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THE 


Closet 


OR, 


THE   BEAUTY  OF  FEMALE   HOLINESS. 


BY   ROBERT    PHILIP, 

OP  MABERLY   CHAPEL. 


jYF  THE          ~*        \i 

•*ftoly  women  of  old."—*.  ?&*•**  TT  U 
'There  stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus,  his  mother,  and  Mary  the  wife  of  (Jieopha*, 
and  Mary  of  Magdala."— .%.  John. 


NEW   YORK: 
D.    APPLETON  &   CO.,  200  BROADWAY. 

1836. 


WM.   VAN   NORDEN, 

PRINTER, 
111    NASSAU  STREET. 


STEREOTYPED   BY  REDFIELD   *   LIWDSAY. 


TO 
HER  ROYAL   HIGHNESS 

THE  PRINCESS  VICTORIA, 


ON    FEMALE    CHARACTER    AND    INFLUENCE, 

ARE, 

BY    HER    GRACIOUS    PERMISSION, 
DEDICATE  D, 

WITH 

*    •*»     A 

FERVENT   PRAYER  'THAT    HfiR^OYAL    HIGHNESS 

MAY    EXEMPLIFY 

ALL 
"THE   BEAUTIES  OF  HOLINESS," 

IN   THE     COURT    AND    TO    HER    COUNTRY, 

BY 

THE   AUTHOR. 

3 


PREFACE, 


THIS  "  CLOSET  MANUAL"  has  a  twofold 
peculiarity.  It  is  addressed  exclusively  to  Fe- 
males ;  because  the  author  believes  that  general 
appeals  on  the  subject  of  Sin  and  Holiness  are 
not  well  adapted  to  the  conscience  of  the  sex, 
nor  so  faithful  as  they  seem.  Its  style,  too,  is 
occasionally  peculiar ;  because  he  thinks  that 
FARABLE  and  ALLEGORY  are  legitimate  weapons 
in  'k  the  defence  of  the  Gospel."  He  has, 
therefore,  attempted  to  give  Oriental  forms  to 
old  truths,  whenever  he  found  it  difficult  to  say, 
in  ordinary  language,  all  that  he  wished  to 
suggest  to  the  female  mind.  He  has  also  given 
that  prominence  to  "the  beauty  of  holiness," 
which  it  has  in  Scripture,  in  common  with  trie 
nature  and  necessity  of  holiness.  This  plan 
and  purpose  will  be  adhered  to  in  the  succeed- 
ing volumes  of  THE  LADY'S  CLOSET  LIBRARY. 

The  Author's  appeal  is  to  the  Mothers  and 
Daughters  in  British  "  Israel :"  they  must  be 
both  his  patrons  and  judges,  if  this  well-meant 
experiment  succeed. 

NEWINOTON  GREEN,  May  24, 1835. 


CONTENTS. 


No.  Page. 

I.  A  Mother's  Hinderances  Duly  Weighed    .    .  9 

II.  A  Daughter's  Principles  Analyzed    ....  51 

III  Emblems  of  Holiness 102 

IV.  A  Matron's  Timidity  Explained 134 

V.  The  Marys  at  the  Cross 170 

VI.  The  Marys  at  the  Sepulchre 196 

VII.  Partialities  in  Holiness 213 

VIII.  Christians  Holy  Temples 234 


THUVERSITY 


OR, 

THE  BEAUTY  OF  FEMALE   HOLINESS. 


No.  I. 

A  MOTHER'S  HINDBRANCES  DULY  WEIGHED. 

IT  is  worthy  of  special  observation,  that,  whilst 
the  earliest  prophecies  concerning  the  Church 
of  Christ  on  earth  foretell,  chiefly,  the  numbers 
of  his  disciples,  the  later  prophecies  abound  in 
descriptions  of  their  spiritual  and  moral  cha- 
racter. Thus,  when  God  pointed  Abraham  to 
the  stars  of  heaven  and  the  sands  on  the  sea 
shore,  as  emblems  of  the  Saviour's  offspring, 
it  was  only  their  innumerable  "  multitude"  and 
not  their  beauty  or  purity,  that  was  appealed 
to  :  but  when  God  pointed  David  to  the  "  dew- 
drops  of  the  morning,"  as  an  emblem  of  the 
offspring  of  Christ,  he  left  their  numbers  to  be 
inferred,  and  confined  the  attention  of  David  to 


10  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

"  the  beauty"  of  their  "  holiness."  Psalm  ex. 
The  reason  for  this  difference  in  the  revelation 
of  the  same  fact  is  obvious ;  the  day  of  Christ 
had  just  been  shown  to  David  as  a  "  day  of 
power,"  which  should  make  people  "  willing" 
to  follow  Christ,  and  as  a  period  of  gracious 
and  unchangeable  priesthood,  which  should 
encourage  them  to  follow  holiness  ;  whereas 
neither  of  these  facts  was  fully  disclosed  to 
Abraham,  when  he  saw  the  day  of  Christ  afar 
off.  What  was  shown  to  him  was,  chiefly,  the 
certainty  of  that  day,  and  not  the  glory  of  it : 
and  therefore  its  results  were  given  in  num- 
bers, not  in  characteristics. 

This  illustration  will  apply  to  the  prophecies 
at  large.  Just  in  proportion  as  they  unveil  the 
glory  and  grace  of  the  Saviour  to  the  Church, 
they  exhibit  or  enforce  the  necessity  and  beauty 
of  holiness.  The  clearer  lights  they  shed  upon 
the  mediatorial  way  of  acceptance  with  God, 
the  stronger  lights  they  pour  upon  the  "  narrow 
way  which  leadeth  to  everlasting  life." 

This  is  an  interesting  fact.     It  leads  us  to 


DULY    WEIGHED.  11 

look  back  among  the  first  disciples  of  Christ, 
who  followed  him  in  this  "  regeneration  of 
life,"  to  notice  how  far  they  justified  the  pro- 
phecies, which  thus  "  went  before,"  concerning 
the  beauty  of  their  holiness.  Did  his  first 
offspring,  "  the  dew  of  his  youth,"  resemble  the 
dew  of  the  morning  in  character  and  spirit? 
Was  he  at  all  glorified  in  his  saints  then,  as 
well  as  "  admired  by  them  ?"  Now,  so  far  as 
moral  character  is  one  of  the  essential  beauties 
of  holiness,  his  first  disciples  were,  in  general, 
eminently  holy.  Whatever  they  may  have 
been  before  they  left  all  and  followed  Christ, 
afterwards  they  were  emphatically  virtuous  and 
upright.  For  a  long  time,  indeed,  their  views 
of  the  person,  work,  and  kingdom  of  Christ 
were  very  worldly,  and  even  their  spirit  was 
ambitious  as  well  as  rash ;  but  their  general 
habits  were  both  circumspect  and  devotional : 
even  their  enemies  "  took  knowledge  of  them 
that  they  had  been  with  Jesus"  to  some  good 
purpose,  so  far  as  exemplary  conduct  was  the 
effect  of  their  intercourse  with  him. 


12  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

Did  you  ever  observe,  whilst  reviewing  the 
character  of  the  Saviour's  early  friends,  that 
his  female  followers  soon  acquired  great  beauty 
of  holiness  under  the  influence  of  his  word  and 
example  ?  There  is,  indeed,  a  complete  halo 
of  loveliness  around  the  character  and  spirit  of 
John,  "  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved ;"  and 
there  is  much  sublimity  about  Peter,  notwith- 
standing all  his  faults  ;  and  the  whole  eleven, 
compared  with  even  the  best  of  the  Jews  of 
that  time,  were  emphatically  "  holy  men  :"  but 
still,  "  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  and  what- 
soever things  are  lovely,"  abound  most  among 
the  women  of  Judea  and  Galilee,  who  followed 
him.  There  is  an  exquisite  and  touching 
beauty  about  the  holiness  of  the  Marys  of  Beth- 
lehem and  Bethany  especially,  which  eclipses 
even  the  excellence  of  the  "  holy  women  of 
old."  We  almost  forget  Abraham's  Sarah  in 
the  presence  of  Joseph's  Mary,  and  lose  sight 
of  Jacob's  Rachel  whilst  Mary  of  Bethany  is 
before  us.  Of  them  we  must  say,  and  even  the 
world  will  respond  the  exclamation,  "Many 


DULY    WEIGHED.  13 

daughters  have  done  virtuously ,n  but  ye  have 
"  excelled  them  all.""  Give  them  of  "the  fruit" 
of  their  own  hands,  and  their  "  works  will 
praise  them  in  the  gates. n 

It  was.  not  without  special  design,  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  transmitted  to  posterity  so  much 
of  the  history  and  character  of  these  distin- 
guished women:  he  evidently  intended  them 
to  be  models  of  female  holiness  to  their  sex. 
Hence  he  inspired  both  Elizabeth  and  the  an- 
gel Gabriel  to  "  HAIL"  Mary  of  Bethlehem  as 
"  highly  favoured  and  blessed  among  women," 
and  taught  the  evangelists  to  depict  her  pecu- 
liar excellences  :  and  not  less  care  did  he  take 
to  embody  the  character  and  embalm  the  me- 
mory of  Mary  of  Bethany.  No  angel,  indeed, 
pronounced  her  eulogy,  but,  what  was  far  bet- 
ter, "  Jesus  loved  Mary,"  and  predicted  that 
her  love  to  him  should  be  "  told  as  a  memorial 
of  her"  wheresoever  the  "  Gospel  should  be 
preached  throughout  the  whole  world." 

These  are  not  accidents,  nor  mere  incidents 
in  the  sacred  history  :  Mary  of  Bethlehem,  like 
2 


14  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

the  star  of  Bethlehem,  is  evidently  placed  in 
the  firmament  of  the  Church,  as  a  leading  star, 
to  guide  wise  women,  as  well  as  wise  men,  to 
Christ,  and  to  teach  both  how  to  ponder  his 
sayings,  and  revere  his  authority,  and  cleave 
to  his  cross.  In  like  manner,  Mary  of  Bethany, 
like  her  own  "  alabaster  box  of  precious  oint- 
ment," is  so  fully  disclosed  in  all  her  principles, 
and  so  fully  poured  out  in  all  her  spirit  before 
us  by  the  sacred  writers,  that  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  her  lovely  character  was  intended  to 
be  "  as  ointment  poured  forth,"  inspiring,  as 
well  as  pleasing.  Like  the  "  good  part,  whicb 
shall  never  be  taken  from  her,"  the  beauty  of 
her  holiness  can  never  be  uninfluential  on 
either  sex,  whilst  it  is  the  duty  of  both  "  to  sit 
at  the  feet  of  Jesus,"  hearing  his  word ;  and 
that  will  be  equally  duty  and  delight  in  heaven, 
as  well  as  on  earth, 

"  While  breath  or  being  last, 
Or  immortality  endures." 

For  who,  tnat  knows  any  thing  of  vital  and  ex- 


DULY    WEIGHED.  15 

perimental  religion,  has  not  said,  in  effect,  both 
when  remembering  past  attainments,  and  when 
anticipating  future  progress  and  enjoyment, 
"  O  that  I  might  for  ever  sit, 

Like  Mary,  at  the  Master's  feet  ?" 

Thus  the  eye  of  a  Christian,  of  either  sex, 
and  of  whatever  sphere  in  life  or  godliness,  re- 
poses upon  Mary  of  Bethany,  whenever  it 
searches  for  an  example  of  child-like  docility, 
or  of  angel-like  meekness,  in  learning  of  Christ. 
The  spirit  of  a  Christian  takes  her  position  at 
the  feet  of  Christ,  and  tries  to  hang  upon  his 
lips  with  her  zeal  and  zest,  whenever  it  is  hun- 
gering and  thirsting  after  righteousness.  The 
soul  feels  instinctively  that  this  is  the  only  way 
to  "  be  filled"  or  refreshed  by  his  presence. 
Accordingly,  we  have  never  found  much  en- 
joyment or  profit,  except  when  we  have  really 
sat  at  "  the  feet"  of  Christ,  hearing  his  word 
for  ourselves.  Neither  in  the  sanctuary,  nor 
in  the  closet,  have  we  become  holier  or  happier, 
when  he  did  not  try  to  place  ourselves  in  the 
position  and  spirit  of  Mary. 


16  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

It  will  be  seen  at  once,  from  this  application 
of  the  example  of  Mary,  that  I  regard  both 
her  place  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  her  conduct 
in  anointing  his  feet  with  "  spikenard,"  as  only 
illustrations  of  her  habitual  spirit  and  general 
character.  Nothing  is  farther  from  my  inten- 
tion, because  nothing  could  be  more  foreign  to 
her  real  character,  than  to  represent  her  as 
merely  a  meek,  contemplative,  and  retiring 
Christian.  She  was,  indeed,  all  this,  but  she 
was  much  more :  she  was  as  prompt  as  Martha 
in  going  out  of  the  house  to  meet  Jesus  when 
he  sent  for  her,  and  in  serving  him  in  the  house 
when  service  was  really  wanted.  It  was  not 
wanted  when  Martha  said  so.  If  she  had  stood 
in  real  need  of  assistance  from  Mary,  the  Sa- 
viour would  not  have  continued,  nor  even  be- 
gun to  preach,  in  the  house  of  Lazarus  then  : 
much  less  would  he  have  commended  Mary 
for  sitting  still,  if  she  had  been  neglecting  do- 
mestic duties.  The  character  of  Mary  should, 
therefore,  be  judged,  not  by  this  instance  of 
contrast  with  Martha's,  but  by  the  conduct 


DULY    WEIGHED.  17 

of  Jesus.  Now,  HE  certainly  would  not  have 
thrown  his  immortal  shield  so  promptly  and 
fully  over  it,  if  sloth  or  selfishness,  the  love 
of  ease,  or  the  dislike  of  household  duties, 
had  been  part  of  her  character.  From  all  we 
know  of  the  Saviour,  we  may  be  quite  sure 
that  he  would  have  reproved  her  himself,  had 
she  been  either  idle  or  negligent. 

They  are  but  very  superficial  observers,  who 
seize  upon  the  contrast  of  the  moment  between 
these  sisters,  to  make  out,  that  Mary  was 
chiefly  an  amiable  Nun-like  being,  who  was 
fonder  of  contemplative  piety  than  of  practical 
duty.  This  is  a  very  common  opinion  ;  but 
it  is  utterly  at  variance  with  fact,  however  ap- 
pearances may  seem  to  justify  it.  Even  ap- 
pearances are  against  it ;  for  nothing  is  so  pro- 
minent upon  the  surface  of  the  case,  as  the 
Saviour's  approbation  of  Mary's  character. 
They  are,  therefore,  at  issue  with  both  His 
judgment  and  testimony,  who  insinuate  the 
charge  or  suspicion  of  undomestic  habits  against 
this  holy  woman.  There  is  nothing  to  warrant 
2* 


18  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

such  an  imputation.  She  sat  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus  upon  this  occasion,  because  Jesus  thought 
proper  to  open  his  lips  as  a  minister,  when  he 
visited  her  house  as  a  guest.  Besides,  His 
visits  to  Bethany  were  the  real  sabbaths  of  the 
family.  Only  then,  had  they  the  opportunity 
of  hearing  the  glorious  Gospel  in  all  the  fulness 
yof  its  blessing :  and  as  the  opportunity  did  not 
occur  often,  it  could  not  be  too  fully  improved 
whilst  it  lasted.  Thus,  there  is  no  more  rea- 
son to  think  Mary  inactive  or  undomestic,  be- 
cause she  sat  whilst  Martha  served  with  un- 
necessary bustle,  than  to  suspect  that  those 
women,  who  sanctify  the  Sabbath  most  in  the 
house  of  God,  are  least  attentive  to  the  affairs 
of  their  own  houses.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
better  test  of  good  domestic  management  all 
the  week  at  home,  than  regularity  and  punctu- 
ality of  attendance  on  public  worship  on  the 
Sabbath.  Those  who  are  soonest  and  oftenest 
at  the  feet  of  Jesus  on  his  own  day,  are  cer- 
tainly not  idle  or  irregular  on  other  days.  It 
is  because  they  are  active,  and  act  on  system 


DULY    WEIGHED.  19 

through  the  week,  that  they  can  make  so  much 
of  their  Sabbaths. 

I  thus  bring  out  the  real  character  of  Mary, 
that  the  beauty  of  holiness  may  not  be  sup- 
posed to  consist  in  either  mere  morals  or  musing. 
There  may  be  much  morality,  where  there  is 
no  holiness  ;  and  there  may  be  much  holiness, 
where  there  are  no  literary  tastes  or  habits. 
Neither  fondness  for  public  hearing,  nor  the 

"  Love  of  lonely  musing," 

is  any  real  proof,  by  itself,  of  a  new  heart,  or 
of  a  right  spirit,  before  God.  Great  readers 
(as  they  are  called)  are  not  often  the  deepest 
nor  the  most  serious  thinkers,  even  when 
their  reading  is  of  the  best  kind  ;  and  the  con- 
templative recluse,  who  lives  only  to  think,  or 
who  reckons  every  thing  but  mental  pleasure 
insipid,  is  actually  indulging  "  the  lusts  of  the 
mind,"  instead  of  growing  in  grace  or  holiness. 
It  may  sound  well,  to  say  of  a  sweet  enthu- 
siast, whose  element  is  solitude,  and  whose 
luxury  is  emotion,  "  that  she  is  a  being  who 


20  AMOTHER'SHINDERANCES 

belongs  to  another  world  ;  her  tastes  are  all  so 
unearthly,  and  her  sympathies  so  exalted  :" 
but  this  is  no  compliment!  Indeed,  it  is  a 
heavy  reflection  upon  both  her  heart  and  con- 
science. A  heart  that  felt  aright,  or  a  conscience 
purified  by  the  blood  of  atonement,  would  try 
to  do  good  by  action,  as  well  as  to  get  good  by 
contemplation.  No  one  belongs  less  to  ano- 
ther world  (if,  by  that,  heaven  is  meant)  than 
the  being  who  has  neither  heart  nor  hand  to 
be  a  blessing  in  this  world.  Her  tastes  may 
be  unearthly  ;  but  heavenly,  they  certainly 
are  not.  They  are  not  angel-like  :  for,  are  not 
all  the  angels  "  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth 
to  minister  to  the  heirs  of  salvation  ?"  They 
are  not  saint-like  :  for  all  the  spirits  of  the 
just  in  heaven  take  a  lively  interest  in  the 
progress  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth. 
And  they  are  any  thing  but  god-like :  for  Fa- 
ther, Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  live  and  move,  as 
if  they  had  both  their  bliss  and  being  in  the 
welfare  of  this  world. 

How  ever  did  it  come  to  be  supposed,  in 


DULY   WEIGHED.  21 

the  land  of  BIBLES,  that  there  was  either  intel- 
lectual greatness,  or  moral  loveliness,  around 
any  pensive  or  sweet  recluse,  who  lives  only  in 
and  for  the  ideal  world  of  her  own  thoughts  ; 
whilst  the  Heathen  and  Mohammedan  world  is 
perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge,  and  the  actual 
world  at  her  door,  sinning  and  suffering  un- 
pitied  by  her  ? 

Those  who  have  no  taste  for  retirement  or 
reading  will,  but  too  readily,  join  in  this  pro- 
test against  sentimental  seclusion.  Those  only 
who  have  but  little  time  for  direct  mental  im- 
provement, will  make  a  right  use  of  the  protest, 
or  even  repeat  it  in  a  good  spirit.  They  will 
be  glad  to  hear  it.  Not,  however,  because  it 
condemns  others,  but  because  it  relieves  them- 
selves from  self-condemnation,  by  proving  to 
them,  from  both  the  letter  and  spirit  of  Scrip- 
ture, that  musing  piety  is  not  the  only  nor  the 
best  piety.  Many  who  have  no  inclination 
to  cumber  themselves  needlessly  with  many 
things,  like  Martha,  are  yet  encumbered  with 
so  many  things  which  distract  their  attention, 


22  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

and  absorb  their  time,  that  they  hastily  con- 
clude, or  strongly  suspect,  that  they  have  no 
real  piety,  because  they  are  so  unlike  the 
Mary  of  their  own  imagination,  and  of  popular 
opinion.  They  thus  set  themselves  down  as 
Marthas,  (her  real  character,  too,  is  equally  mis- 
taken,) who  have  not  "  chosen  the  good  part," 
nor  acquired  the  "one  thing  needful."  But  this 
is  as  unnecessary  as  it  is  unwise.  Wherever  real 
duty  fills  the  hands,  or  inevitable  care  the  heart, 
then  there  is  as  much  holiness,  and  as  much  of 
the  real  beauty  of  it  too,  in  doing  or  suffering 
the  will  of  God  well,  as  in  acts  of  prolonged  de- 
votion, or  in  efforts  of  heavenly-mindedness. 

This  subject  is  much  misunderstood.  In- 
deed, many  are  afraid  to  speak  out,  or  even  to 
think  freely,  on  the  subject.  They  are  quite 
dissatisfied  with  themselves,  because  they  can 
command  so  little  time  for  devotional  reading 
and  meditation  ;  and  yet  they  do  not  see  how 
they  can  command  more  at  present.  They 
see  clearly,  and  feel  deeply,  that  their  minds 
want  improvement;  that  the  great  salvation 


DULY    WEIGHED.  23 

deserves  more  thought  than  they  give  to  it ; 
that  they  have  not  that  communion  with  God 
which  is  so  desirable,  nor  that  witness  of  the 
Spirit  which  they  deem  so  important;  and 
hence  they  stand  in  doubt  whether  they  have 
any  real  piety  at  all. 

Now  there  is  some  danger,  as  well  as  diffi- 
culty, in  meeting  this  case  ;  because  more  want 
to  get  rid  of  such  doubts,  than  those  who  are 
so  placed  and  pledged  in  life,  that  they  have 
but  little  spare  time.  The  slothful  and  the 
worldly-minded  are  upon  the  watch,  to  lay 
hold  of  any  thing  that  would  lessen  their  self- 
condemnation,  or  tend  to  reconcile  their  habits 
with  their  hopes.  The  allowances  to  be  made 
for  the  real  want  of  time,  they  stand  ready  to 
snatch  at,  as  excuses  for  not  redeeming  time, 
or  for  not  improving  it.  The  forbearance,  and 
leniency,  and  sympathy  of  God  towards  his 
poor  and  afflicted  children,  are  greedily  seized 
and  appropriated  by  slothful  servants,  and  by 
heedless  and  heartless  professors.  For  they, 
too,  want  to  be  happy  in  their  own  mind,  how- 


24  A   MOTHER'S    HINDERANCEST 

ever  little  they  care  about  holiness.  They  go 
to  the  sanctuary  to  be  comforted,  as  well  as  the 
tried  and  harassed  Christian. 

Hence  arises  danger,  as  well  as  difficulty,  in 
meeting,  publicly  and  fully,  the  case  of  those 
who  cannot  redeem  much  time,  nor  always  do 
the  good  they  really  wish :  the  concessions 
made  on  their  behalf,  may  be  perverted  by 
those  who  dislike  devotional  retirement,  into 
an  excuse  for  so  multiplying  their  worldly  en- 
gagements, as  to  leave  no  time  for  reading  or 
meditation,  and  but  little  for  prayer  itself. 
Still,  neither  the  sheep  nor  the  lambs  of  the 
Good  Shepherd's  flock,  (who  love  and  long  for 
those  green  pastures  and  still  waters,  without 
being  able  to  visit  them  often  or  continue  at 
them  )ongy)  should  be  left  to  put  the  worst  in- 
terpretation upon  their  own  weakness,  however 
wandering  sheep  may  abuse  the  Shepherd's 
condescension.  He  will  count  as  his  sheep, 
and  even  carry  in  his  bosom,  those,  who,  al- 
though they  cannot  be  so  often  at  his  feet  as 
they  wish,  do  not  try  to  keep  away,  nor  to  get 


DULY    WEIGHED.  25 

away,  from  his  feet.  He  will  distinguish  be- 
tween those  who  cannot  sit  down  to  hear  his 
voice  frequently,  because  of  pressing  domestic 
duties,  and  those  who  seldom  do  so,  because 
they  prefer  to  "  hear  the  voice  of  strangers." 
John  x.  5. 

The  real  question,  therefore,  in  the  case  of 
those  who  have  but  little  leisure,  is, — What 
engrosses  your  time  ?  Now,  if  duties  which  it 
would  be  sinful  to  omit,  fill  your  hands  and 
your  heart  all  the  day  long,  and  even  leave 
you  fatigued  at  night,  it  will  not  be  laid  to 
your  charge,  as  sin,  that  you  were  not  much 
alone  with  God.  You  ought  not  to  be  much 
alone,  when  either  a  sick-bed  or  the  care  of 
the  family  requires  your  presence.  Then,  "  the 
beauty  of  holiness"  lies  in  watching  and  work- 
ing in  a  devotional  spirit,  and  not  in  frequent 
nor  in  prolonged  visits  to  the  closet.  That 
mother  is  not  unholy,  nor  inconsistent,  who 
has  hardly  a  moment  to  herself,  from  morning 
till  night,  owing  to  the  number  of  her  children, 
or  the  sickness  of  her  babe.  That  daughter  is 
3 


26  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

not  unholy,  nor  unlike  Mary  of  Bethany,  who 
shares  her  mother's  toils  and  trials,  or  soothes 
the  loneliness  of  an  aged  and  infirm  father. 
That  wife  is  not  unholy,  nor  unlike  Mary,  who, 
in  order  to  make  her  husband's  slender  income 
sweeten  his  home  and  sustain  his  credit,  works 
hard  all  the  day.  All  these  things  are,  indeed, 
done  by  many  who  care  nothing  about  holiness, 
and  who  would  not  retire  to  meditate  or  pray, 
even  if  their  time  were  not  thus  absorbed  ;  and, 
therefore,  the  mere  doing  of  these  things,  apart 
from  its  spirit  and  motives,  proves  nothing  de- 
cisive as  to  the  state  of  the  heart  before  God. 
Still,  it  is  equally  true,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
neither  the  time  nor  the  care  expended  on 
these  duties  disproves  the  existence  of  holiness. 
There  is,  indeed,  no  true  holiness,  where  there 
is  no  secret  devotion  ;  but  there  may  be  much 
of  the  former,  when  there  is  but  little  time  for 
the  latter :  yea,  the  highest  beauty  of  holiness 
often  invests  and  enshrines  the  character,  whilst 
the  heart  of  a  Christian  must  depend  more  upon 
frequent  glances  3t  the  throno  of  grnre.  than 


DULY    WEIGHED.  27 

upon  formal  approaches  to  it.  Then,  to  go 
through  arduous  domestic  duty,  in  a  meek  and 
quiet  spirit,  which  breathes  prayer,  even  when 
busiest ;  or  to  watch  and  minister  in  the  sick 
chamber,  mingling  prayer  with  tenderness  and 
patience,  and  thus  "  doing  service  as  unto  the 
Lord,"  or  for  his  sake,  is  as  decisive  of  piety, 
and  even  "  adorns  the  doctrines"  of  Christ  as 
much,  as  any  act  of  devotion,  however  spiritual, 
or  any  enterprise  of  zeal,  however  splendid. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  practical  lesson  of 
godliness  so  ill  understood,  as  this  one.  The 
general  sentiment  of  it  is,  of  course,  obvious  to 
any  Christian,  and  the  theory  of  it  quite  fami- 
liar; but,  how  few  enter  so  fully  into  the 
spirit  of  the  maxim,  as  to  keep  their  piety  from 
declining,  or  their  peace  of  mind  from  evapo- 
rating, when  they  have  much  to  do  or  to  en- 
dure in  their  family  !  Then,  it  is  no  uncom- 
mon thing  for  a  pious  wife,  or  a  widowed  mo- 
ther, to  complain  that  domestic  cares  have 
brought  a  cloud  upon  all  her  hopes  and  evi- 
dences of  grace,  and  such  deadness  and  dark- 


2S  AMOTHER'SHINDERANCES 

ness  upon  her  soul,  that  she  seems  to  herself  no 
longer  the  same  being  she  was,  but  like  an 
apostate  from  faith  and  godliness.  Thus,  she 
thinks,  that  she  has  lost  her  piety,  whilst  doing 
her  duty  to  her  family  ! 

And  she  certainly  has  lost  some  of  her  piety, 
although  not  in  the  sense  she  means,  nor  yet 
to  the  degree  she  suspects.  She  has  lost  that 
holy  freedom  at  the  throne  of  grace,  which 
once  made  her  closet  the  house  of  God  and  the 
gate  of  heaven ;  she  has  lost  that  power  of  ap- 
propriating the  great  and  precious  promises, 
which  once  made  her  Bible  so  dear ;  she  has 
lost  that  control  over  her  own  thoughts  and 
feelings,  by  which  she  could  once  concentrate 
them  upon  the  things  which  are  unseen  and 
eternal,  whenever  she  really  tried  to  pass  within 
the  veil  of  the  invisible  world  ;  and,  above  all, 
she  has  1  st  sight  of  her  own  warrant  and  wel- 
come to  trust  in  Christ,  which  once  set  and 
kept  every  thing  right.  Now,  these  are  serious 
losses,  and  may  well  be  sadly  bewailed, 
and  even  somewhat  feared  as  to  their  conse- 


DULY    WEIGHED.  29 

quences  ;  for  it  is  not  so  easy  to  repair  these 
spiritual  injuries,  as  it  is  to  bring  them  on. 
They  might  all  have  been  kept  off,  however, 
if  she  had  studied  beforehand  the  secret  of 
blending  the  spirit  of  prayer  with  the  efforts 
of  maternal  devotedness,  and  the  art  of  turn- 
ing the  duties  of  life  into  acts  of  godliness  ; 
but,  having,  like  many,  grown  up  under  the 
idea,  that  nothing  was  really  a  part  of  her  piety 
but  what  was  a  positive  act  of  religion,  and 
thus  being  in  the  habit  of  estimating  her  piety 
more  by  her  delight  in  divine  things,  than  by 
her  conscientious  discharge  of  ordinary  duties, 
she  is,  of  course,  sadly  thrown  out  and  discon- 
certed, whenever  the  pressure  of  ordinary  du- 
ties lessens  the  sense  or  lowers  the  spirit  of  her 
religious  observances  :  whereas,  had  she  fully 
gone  into  the  question  of  personal  holiness 
at  her  outset  in  the  divine  life,  she  would  have 
soon  discovered  that  it  is  the  very  leauty  of  ho- 
liness to  do  that  best  which  is  most  wanted  at 
the  moment ;  for  even  the  cradle  may  be  made 
an  altar,  and  the  nursery  a  little  sanctuary,  and 
3* 


30  A    MOTHERS    HINDERANCE3 

household  duties  almost  sacramental  engage- 
ments !  But  if  these  things  are  looked  upon 
as  the  mere  routine  of  life,  or  as  unfavourable 
to  godliness  ;  and  if  only  the  time  which  can  be 
spared  from  them  is  considered  improved  time 
for  eternity,  then,  of  course,  there  must  be  a 
sad  sense  of  declension  in  piety  whenever  more 
time  than  usual  is  demanded  by  them.  But 
why  not  consider  that  unusual  portion  of  time 
which  is  required  in  seasons  of  domestic  care, 
MS  improved  for  eternity,  as  well  as  the  time 
spent  in  devotion  ?  Why  not  do  every  thing 
as  service  unto  God,  as  well  as  the  things  you 
call  service  done  to  him  1  Surely,  if  all  Chris- 
tians may  eat  and  drink  so  as  to  glorify  God,  Chris- 
tian mothers  may  watch  and  work  for  their 
family  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace 
I  am  not  inclined  to  resolve  so  many  things 
into  satanic  influence  as  some  are  :  there  are 
many  of  our  faults  and  failings  but  too  easily 
accounted  for  by  the  treachery  of  our  own 
hearts  and  the  want  of  consideration :  still,  I 
cannot  help  suspecting  that  Satan  has  not  a 


DULY    WEIGF 


little,  yea,  much,  to  do  with  creating  and  keep- 
ing up  the  popular  notion,  that  nothing  is  spi- 
ritual religion  but  spiritual  exercises  and  emo- 
tions. Not,  indeed,  that  he  is  any  friend  to 
spirituality  of  heart  or  habit :  there  is  nothing 
he  hates  so  much,  or  tries  more  to  hinder.  He 
can,  however,  transform  himself  into  an  angel 
of  light,  and  thus  seem  to  plead  for  highly  spi- 
ritual religion,  and  for  extraordinary  devotion, 
whilst,  in  fact,  he  is  endeavouring  to  prevent  all 
religion  and  devotion  too. 

It  is  not  sin  alone,  nor  worldly  pleasures 
only,  that  Satan  throws  false  colours  over :  he 
can  exaggerate  the  claims  of  holiness,  as  well 
as  soften  the  aspect  of  sin  and  folly.  He  often 
labours  to  make  out  the  necessity  of  too  much 
religion,  as  well  as  to  prove  the  sufficiency  of 
too  little :  I  mean,  that  just  as  he  tries  to 
persuade  some  that  the  ceremonial  forms  of 
religion  are  quite  enough,  or  as  much  as  can 
be  expected  in  our  busy  world  and  imperfect 
state,  so  he  labours  to  persuade  others  that 
nothing  amounts  10  saving  piety  but  a  heart 


32  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

all  love,  a  spirit  all  heavenly,  and  a  character 
perfectly  holy.  In  like  manner,  he  adapts  his 
wiles  to  those  who  see  through  the  fallacy  of 
such  extremes  ;  putting  it  to  themselves  to  say, 
whether  they  might  not  as  well  do  nothing  at 
all  in  religion,  as  do  so  little  ;  whether  it  would 
not  be  less  dangerous  to  make  no  profession  of 
godliness,  than  to  have  only  a  spark  of  its  pow- 
er ;  or,  at  least,  whether  it  would  not  be  better 
to  give  up  prayer  entirely,  until  they  can  secure 
more  time  and  composure,  than  to  continue  it 
in  the  very  imperfect  way  they  are  now  com- 
pelled to  do  ? 

This  is  an  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  a  ha- 
rassed mother,  which  she  little  suspects  to  come 
from  the  lips  of  Satan  ;  and  yet  he  is  as  busy 
in  "  taking  advantage  over"  her,  whilst  thus 
trying  to  make  her  give  up  what  she  attempts 
in  religion,  as  when  he  beguiled  Eve  to  aim  at 
being  god-like  in  another  sense  than  she  was 
so.  At  this  point,  therefore,  it  is  peculiarly 
necessary  to  act  on  the  injunction,  "  Resist  the 
Devil."  That  cannot  be  done  effectually,  how- 


DULY    WEIGHED.  33 

ever,  by  any  process  which  does  not  turn  the 
duties  of  life  into  acts  of  godliness.  He  will 
not  "flee  from  you,"  whilst  you  merely  analyze 
and  scrutinize  his  wiles  and  devices  ;  he  will 
try  new  fiery  darts  as  fast  as  you  defeat  the  old, 
by  mere  arguments  ;  he  will  stand  at  your  right 
hand,  resisting  you,  whilst  you  only  resist  him 
by  detecting  him.  When  did  he  leave  the 
Saviour  ?  Not  until  he  saw  that  nothing  could 
divert  him  from  the  "  work  the  Father  gave  him 
to  do."  Satan  tried  first  to  set  him  against 
that  work,  by  the  poverty  it  involved  ;  then  to 
set  him  upon  a  new  process  of  doing  it ;  and 
then,  to  engage  him  in  other  work,  altogether 
different ;  but  all  in  vain.  Satan  found  nothing 
in  the  Saviour  averse  to  the  will  of  God,  not- 
withstanding all  the  labour,  privation,  and  suffer- 
ing which  the  great  work  of  redemption  in- 
volved. "  Then  the  devil  left  him,  and  angels 
ministered  unto  him."  And  by  no  other  pro- 
cess than  that  of  adhering  to  the  work  God  has 
given  us  to  do,  can  we  resist  the  devil  so  as  to 
make  him  flee  from  us. 


34  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

I  do  not  forget  (I  never  more  remembered 
or  admired  than  at  this  moment)  that  Christ 
resisted  temptation  by  opposing  to  it  the  ex- 
press word  of  God.  It  was,  however,  not  the 
quotations  of  Scripture,  but  the  practical  pur- 
pose for  which  they  were  quoted,  that  discom- 
fited the  tempter.  The  Saviour  drew  upon  the 
word  of  God,  that  he  might  not  draw  back 
from  the  word  of  God ;  he  wielded  weapons 
from  the  armory  of  heaven,  that  he  might  go 
steadfastly  through  whatever  the  Father  had 
given  him  to  do  or  endure  on  earth. 

1  know  well  that  there  is  no  parallel  be- 
tween our  work  and  the  work  of  Christ ;  but 
still,  our  sphere,  and  its  duties  and  hardships, 
are  the  appointment  of  God,  as  well  as  Christ's 
were  so.  It  is  not  by  accident  that  one  mother 
has  much  to  do,  and  another  much  to  suffer, 
and  a  third  much  both  to  do  and  endure  : 
these  heavy  crosses  are  as  really  heavenly 
appointments  as  the  cross  of  Christ  was, 
although  not  for  the  same  purpose.  Accord- 
ingly, in  some  things  we  recognise,  and  even 


DULY   WEIGHED.  35 

act  on  this  principle,  in  express  imitation  of 
the  Saviour's  example.  When  the  cup  of  be- 
reavement or  affliction  is  put  into  our  hands, 
we  try  to  say,  like  him,  "  The  cup  which  my 
Father  hath  given  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it? 
Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done."  Thus  we 
really  attempt  to  turn  what  we  suffer  much 
from,  into  an  occasion  of  serving  God  well,  and 
for  submitting  to  him  meekly.  We  regard  this 
as  true  godliness,  and  try  to  make  it  holy 
submission. 

Now,  why  not  view  every  duty  of  life  in  the 
same  light,  and  both  go  to  it,  and  through  it,  as 
service  required  by  God, and  acceptable  to  God? 
Perhaps  you  find  it  difficult  to  conceive  how 
some  of  your  domestic  duties  could  be  in- 
vested with  any  thing  like  a  spiritual  or  holy 
character :  you  may  almost  be  inclined  to 
smile  at  first,  at  the  idea  of  giving  them  a  reli- 
gious aspect ;  and  as  to  throwing  the  beauty  of 
holiness  around  all  the  details  of  life,  it  may 
seem  to  you  a  profanation  of  divine  things  even 
to  think  of  such  a  mixture.  Be  not  frightened 


36  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

or  prejudiced,  however,  by  words  or  fancies. 
God  himself  does  many  things  similar  to  those 
you  have  to  do :  if  you  clothe  your  children, 
He  clothes  the  earth  with  grass  and  flowers : 
if  you  feed  your  children,  He  feeds  the  young 
ravens  when  they  cry :  if  you  watch  night  and 
day,  occasionally,  over  the  couch  of  a  sick 
child,  afraid  to  stir  from  its  side,  or  take  your 
eye  off  it  for  a  moment,  He  never  slumbers  nor 
sleeps  in  watching  over  his  suffering  children : 
God  even  "  sits,  as  a  refiner,"  by  the  furnace 
of  his  backsliding  children.  If  you  try  to 
manage  well,  and  to  make  the  best  of  whatever 
happens,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  love  you 
and  look  up  to  you,  He  also  makes  "  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  him." 
Thus  God  counts  nothing  beneath  him,  nor  de- 
rogatory to  his  character,  which  is  really  re- 
quired by  any  of  his  creatures,  or  needful  in 
any  part  of  his  creation.  He  doeth  all  things, 
little  and  great,  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  in 
the  same  god-like  manner ;  acting  always  in 
character,  whether  he  sustain  a  sparrow  or 


DULY    WEIGHED.  37 

create  a  world.  He  doeth  all  things  in  heaven 
and  earth,  indeed,  without  quitting  his  throne, 
or  being  disquieted  by  the  multiplicity  and 
weight  of  his  engagements  ;  but  still,  God  oc- 
cupies himself  with  our  mean  affairs,  as  wil- 
lingly and  fully  as  with  the  affairs  of  angels  or 
the  interests  of  the  universe.  Nothing  in  his 
glorious  holiness  holds  him  back  from  doing 
ordinary  things  well,  because  they  are  but  or- 
dinary things :  he  acts  like  himself,  whether 
displaying  the  tenderness  of  a  Parent  or  the 
majesty  of  a  Judge,  and  carries  out  his  great 
principles  into  all  his  operations. 

If,  then,  He  be  not  less  holy,  nor  less  beau- 
tiful in  holiness,  whilst  attending  to  the  mi- 
nutest claims  of  his  universal  family,  why  may 
not  "  holiness  unto  the  Lord  be  written"  upon 
all  the  details  of  your  family  duty  ? 

I  am  not  pleading  for  what  is  called  "  mix- 
ing up  religion  with  every  thing,"  if  by  that  is 
meant  talking  about  religion  whilst  transacting 
the  business  of  life,  or  giving  a  religious  turn 
to  every  conversation.  This  is  neither  neces 
4 


<&8  A    MOTHER'** 

sary  nor  wise,  as  it  is  usually  conducted  by 
those  who  try  it  most :  indeed,  they  are  thus 
often  guilty  of  "  casting  pearls  before  swine," 
and  more  likely  to  create  prejudices  against 
religion  than  to  commend  it.  Even  their  own 
piety  is  in  danger  of  being  suspected  of  sinister 
design  or  of  sanctimonious  pretence y  by  this 
forced  intermixture  of  sacred  and  common 
things.  So  far,  therefore,  as  speaking  perpe- 
tually about  religion,  or  about  every  thing  in 
religious  phrases,  is  concerned,  I  have  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  habit,  and  see  none  of  the 
beauty  of  holiness  in  it.  I  have,  however,  quite 
as  little  respect  for  both  the  vulgar  and  the 
sentimental  proverb — "  Business  in  its  place, 
and  religion  in  its  own  place/'  That  really 
means,  in  the  lips  of  those  who  use  it  most, 
"  they  are  distinct  things,  therefore  keep  them 
separate  ;"  a  maxim  equally  treasonable  and  un- 
true !  They  are,  indeed,  made  distinct  things  ; 
but  who  made  them  so  ?  Not  God :  he  joins 
with  the  injunction,  "  not  slothful  in  business," 
the  commandment  "Be  fervent  in  spirit,  serv- 


DULY    WEIGHED.  33 

ing  the  Lord."  He  says,  "  Whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  It  sounds  ill,  and 
looks  ill,  therefore,  when  men,  professing  to  be 
Christians,  say  that  they  give  themselves  to 
business  and  religion  in  turn,  and  never  try 
both  at  once.  Such  men  do  not  understand 
the  spirit  of  true  religion,  whatever  adepts  they 
may  be  in  business, 

I  say  this,  however,  far  more  in  pity  than  in 
blame  ;  for,  as  many  godly  women  have  grown 
up  in  the  habit  of  going  through  their  domestic 
duties,  without  ever  imagining  that  there  is 
any  godliness  in  performing  them  well,  so, 
many  men,  who  have  the  root  of  the  matter  in 
them,  have  grown  up  in  the  habit  of  regarding 
their  public  duties  in  trade  as  no  part  of  their 
religion.  They,  too,  count  nothing  piety  but 
what  is  done  in  the  closet  of  devotion,  and  in 
the  house  of  God,  except  what  they  may  occa- 
sionally do  in  visiting  the  afflicted,  or  in  re- 
lieving the  poor ;  and  thus  both  sexes  confirm 
each  other  in  the  pernicious  opinion,  that  ordi- 
nary duty  is  no  proof  of  vital  godliness. 


40  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

This  is  a  pernicious  opinion,  however  well 
meant  by  some  who  hold  it.  Wherever,  in- 
deed, there  is  no  devotion,  nor  any  relish  for 
divine  things,  or,  when  the  soul  and  salvation 
are  neglected  through  the  attention  given  to 
worldly  things,  no  diligence  nor  honour  in 
business  is  religion  in  any  sense.  The  in- 
dustry of  the  bee,  or  the  economy  of  the  ant, 
might  as  well  be  called  piety.  It  is,  however, 
equally  true,  on  the  other  hand,  that  idleness 
and  dishonesty  disprove  all  pretensions  to  god- 
liness :  there  must,  therefore,  be  something  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  ordinary  duties  of  life 
not  unfavourable  to  vital  godliness,  seeing  the 
conscientious  discharge  of  them  is  thus  essen- 
tial to  the  proof  of  its  sincerity.  Why,  then, 
should  a  pious  man  allow  himself  to  think 
that  he  is  only  serving  the  world  during  the 
hours  and  bustle  of  business  ?  Why  should  he 
ever  speak  or  dream  of  leaving  his  religion  at 
home  when  he  goes  out  into  the  world  ?  He 
does  not  leave  behind  him  his  conscience,  nor 
his  sense  of  accountability,  nor  his  regard  to 


DULY    WEIGHED.  41 

truth,  nor  his  respect  for  his  good  name,  nor 
his  holy  fear  of  disgracing  his  profession: 
these  follow  him,  like  his  shadow,  into  all  the 
walks  of  public  life.  Not  all  the  anxieties  nor 
distractions  of  his  business  can  make  him  lose 
sight  of  his  great  moral  principles  ;  and  yet 
he  says  that  he  "  left  his  religion  at  home." 
He  means,  of  course,  his  penitence,  his  spi- 
rituality of  mind,  and  his  devotion  ;  these  are 
what  he  drops  when  he  quits  his  closet  and  the 
family  altar;  and  certainly  these  are  things 
which  cannot  be  much  combined  with  worldly 
affairs.  I  will  even  readily  grant  that  it  would 
not  argue  much  good  sense,  to  attach  much  im- 
portance to  the  hasty  glances  or  the  passing 
thoughts  of  divine  things,  which  may  take  place 
in  the  course  of  the  day  ;  these  should  not  rank 
very  high  in  the  scale  of  evidences  by  which  a 
Christian  tests  the  reality  of  his  conversion,,  or 
the  safety  of  his  state  for  eternity.  Yea,  I  will 
go  farther,  and  allow  that  if  he  cannot  prove 
his  faith  without  the  scanty  items  of  such  evi- 
dence, he  cannot  prove  it  with  them  :  they  are 
4* 


42  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

too  few  and  feeble  to  lay  much  stress  upon 
them. 

These  concessions  do  not,  however,  militate 
against  my  argument :  it  is  just  because  they 
prove  so  little,  that  I  advocate  the  necessity 
and  propriety  of  going  to  business,  day  after 
day,  in  a  spirit  which  shall  make  it  all  one  em- 
bodied proof  of  true  holiness.  Now,  it  would 
be  so,  by  going  to  it  and  through  it,  as  a  peni- 
tent before  God,  as  a  debtor  before  Christ,  as 
a  dependant  before  the  Holy  Spirit.  A  Chris- 
tian man  is  all  this  ;  and  by  a  little  pains  he 
might  carry  the  consciousness  of  all  this  as  re- 
gularly into  the  world  as  he  carries  his  honesty 
or  his  integrity.  He  need  no  more  lose  sight 
of  what  the  hope  of  eternal  life  leads  him  to  be 
and  do,  than  of  what  his  credit  and  subsist- 
ence require  of  him.  It  is  just  as  possible  to 
act  as  a  redeemed  man,  as  to  act  as  an  honest 
man.  And  here  would  be  the  advantage  of 
acting  in  this  spirit — instead  of  coming  home 
from  business  with  all  its  deadening  and  dis- 
tracting influence  aggravated  by  the  suspicion 


DULY    WEIGHED.  43 

of  having  been  serving  the  world  only,  he 
would  have  the  consciousness  that  he  had  been 
"  doing  service  as  unto  God,  and  not  as  unto 
man ;"  and  thus  the  conviction  that  neither 
the  time  nor  the  thought  he  had  given  to  his 
public  duties,  had  lessened  his  hold  upon  the 
divine  favour,  or  drawn  any  judicial  veil  be- 
tween him  and  the  divine  presence.  Whereas 
the  Christian  who  really  leaves  the  spirit  of 
religion  at  home,  because  he  deems  it  useless 
or  impossible  to  mind  any  thing  but  business 
during  the  hours  of  business,  cannot  so  easily 
resume  that  spirit  after  the  tear  and  wear  of 
the  day.  He  feels  as  if  all  he  had  been  doing 
was  somewhat  sinful  in  itself,  because  it  is 
so  deadening  and  carnalizing  in  its  influence. 
The  consequence  is,  he  is  often  afraid  to  go 
alone  with  God,  after  having  been  long  and 
much  absorbed  in  the  world. 

These  remarks,  although  a  digression  in  one 
sense,  are  not  at  all  so  in  another.  They  will 
account  in  some  measure  for  the  false  view 
you  have  taken  of  domestic  duties.  You  have 


44  AMOTHER'SHINDERANCES 

so  often  heard  a  pious  father,  husband,  or  bro- 
ther, complain  of  the  unhinging  and  deadening 
effect  of  the  cares  of  business  on  their  minds, 
and  have  so  often  felt  that  family  duties  and 
cares  had  precisely  the  same  effect  on  your 
own  mind,  that  you,  like  them,  are  too  much 
in  the  habit  of  considering  the  duties  of  life  as 
drawbacks  or  hinde ranees  to  godliness.  I  am, 
therefore,  very  anxious  to  lead  you  into  the 
scriptural  views  of  this  subject,  not  only  on 
your  own  account,  but  for  the  sake  of  those 
whose  spiritual  welfare  is  dear  to  you  ;  for, 
without  saying  a  word  in  the  way  of  counsel, 
or  even  of  explanation,  you  may  so  illustrate 
the  great  truth  that  "  all  things  may  be  done 
to  the  glory  of  God,"  as  to  convince  your  fa- 
ther, your  husband,  or  your  brother,  that  bu- 
siness may  be  made  the  handmaid  of  religion 
in  the  world,  as  well  as  at  home. 

Are  you  a  mother?  How  holiness  might 
beam  and  breathe  in  all  your  maternal  duties 
and  cares !  Nay,  do  not  smile  in  scorn  nor  in 
pity  at  this  fond  wish !  I  no  more  forget  than 


DULY    WEIGHED.  45 

you  do,  that  there  is  noise,  nonsense,  vexation, 
almost  drudgery  at  times,  in  the  nursery ;  your 
patience,  as  well  as  your  strength,  is  often 
tried  by  your  children  ;  you  occasionally  find 
it  no  easy  matter  to  keep  your  temper,  or  even 
to  keep  up  your  spirits,  amongst  them.  Were 
they  not  your  own  children,  you  feel  as  if  you 
never  could  go  through  what  you  have  to  do 
and  endure.  Now,  I  do  not  wonder  at  this ; 
my  only  wonder  is,  how  mothers  can  work 
and  watch,  nourish  and  cherish,  as  they  do  f 
There  must  be  a  magnetic  charm,  which  fa- 
thers do  not  feel,  in  the  sweet  thought — "  They 
are  my  own  children."  We,  too,  love  them, 
sincerely  and  strongly,  as  you  well  know  ;  but, 
somehow,  we  could  neither  do  for  them  nor 
bear  with  them,  in  your  spirit,  nor  with  your 
perseverance.  A  sleepless  night  or  two  quite 
exhausts  our  patience  :  the  reflection,  "  They 
are  my  own  children,"  does  not  electrify  us  as 
it  does  you,  except  when  their  life  is  in  immi- 
nent danger.  Well,  just  carry  out  this  electric 
thought  in  your  own  maternal  spirit,  and  ob- 


46  A  MOTHER'S  HINBERANCES 

serve  how  you  feel  whilst  you  say,  in  reference 
to  their  souls,  "  My  own  children  !  They  will 
be  mine  for  ever,  both  here  and  hereafter. 
Nothing  can  dissolve  all  my  connexion  with 
them.  We  may  be  widely  separated  on  earth ; 
we  shall  be  divided  by  death,  and  it  is  not  yet 
certain  that  we  shall  be  all  reunited  in  heaven  : 
but  wherever  they  are,  in  time  or  eternity,  they 
will  be  my  family.  I  can  never  forget  them 
Until  death,  I  shall  instinctively  look  after 
them,  wherever  their  lot  may  be  cast :  at  the 
judgment-seat  I  shall  look  for  them,  whether 
they  stand  on  the  right  hand  or  on  the  left : 
through  eternity  I  shall  remember  them, 
wherever  I  myself  am,  or  whatever  I  may  be." 
Neither  heaven  nor  hell  can  obliterate  parental 
recollections ;  fathers  and  mothers  will  feel 
themselves  to  be  fathers  and  mothers 

"  Whilst  immortality  endures." 

These  are  solemn  considerations.  Do  not, 
however,  shrink  from  them  ;  they  may  become 
equally  sweet  and  sublime.  Even  already, 


DULY    WEIGHED.  4? 

they  have  thrown  your  spirit  in  upon  your  ma- 
ternal responsibilities,  and  far  out  amongst 
your  parental  prospects  in  both  worlds.  That 
glance  of  solicitude  you  darted  through  the 
assembled  universe,  in  search  of  your  children,, 
when  you  realized  the  judgment-seat,  proves 
that  you  are  not  "  without  natural  affection," 
nor  destitute  of  spiritual  sympathy.  And  that 
breathless  pause  you  made,  whilst  supposing 
yourself  looking  all  around  heaven  for  them, 
reveals  to  you  how  dear  their  eternal  safety  is 
to  your  heart,  and  how  much  their  presence 
would  heighten  your  happiness,  even  in  the 
presence  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  What  fine 
preparation  these  glimpses  of  the  great  white 
throne  of  judgment,  and  of  the  glorious  high 
throne  of  heaven,  are  for  maternal  prayer  at 
"  the  throne  of  grace  !"  Whilst  the  former 
thrones  are  looked  at,  the  latter  cannot  be 
overlooked.  You  feel  through  all  your  soul,, 
that  any  mother,,  if  allowed,  would  pray  for 
her  children  at  the  former  thrones,  if  prayer 
could  avail  there  :  and  will  you  neglect  to 


48  A  MOTHER'S  HINDERANCES 

pray  for  your  children  at  that  throne,  where 
alone  it  is  allowed  or  useful  ?  If  you  do  neg- 
lect this  duty,  it  is  not  likely  that  God  would 
gratify  you  with  either  the  company,  or  a 
sight,  of  your  children  in  heaven,  even  if  both 
they  and  you  should  be  in  heaven.  But  a 
prayerless  mother  in  heaven — is  an  anomaly. 
Her  children  are  more  likely  to  miss  her  there, 
than  she  is  to  miss  them  ;  or ? both  to  meet  in 
hell' 

Neither,  however,  need  miss  the  other  in 
Ikeaveu.  Both  may  meet  in  one  mansion  of 
glory,  if  both  mingle  their  prayers  at  the  throne 
of  grace.  Heaven  is  not  so  inaccessible  or 
uncertain  to  families,  as  families,  as  some  seem 
to  fear.  We  must  not  judge  from  appearances 
in  this  matter.  Heaven,  as  it  is  revealed  in 
the  Bible,  is  a  family-house,  where  "  it  may  be 
well  with  us  and  our  children  for  ever."  God 
has  said  so.  We  must  not,  therefore,  regulate 
our  opinion  of  His  good  will  towards  the  fami- 
lies of  those  that  fear  him,  by  the  way  in 
which  some  of  their  children  turn  out.  The 


DULY    WEIGHED.  49 

real  question  is, — Did  those  parents  take 
God's  plan,  in  both  its  letter  arid  spirit,  for 
training  up  their  children  ?  That  all  godly 
parents  have  done  something,  yea  much,  for 
their  families,  compared  with  what  the  un- 
godly do,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  But  how 
few  even  believe — that  there  is  a  positive  cer- 
tainty of  success,  pledged  by  God,  to  all  who 
bring  up  their  children  in  "  the  nurture  and  ad- 
monition of  the  Lord  !"  The  generality  treat 
this  promise  as  a  lottery,  in  which  there  are 
more  blanks  than  prizes.  Thus  both  the  faith- 
fulness and  the  sincerity  of  God  are  disho- 
noured. But,  Mothers !  it  is  as  true  now,  as 
when  Paul  said  to  the  jailor  at  Philippi,  "Be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved,  and  thy  HOUSE."  The  jailor  had 
asked  only,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?" 
Paul,  however,  would  not  allow  him  to  confine 
the  question  to  himself.  The  promise  is  to 
children  as  well  as  to  parents  ;  and  therefore 
the  Apostle  answered  the  question  so  as  to  in- 
clude both. 

5 


50  A    MOTHERS    HINDERANCES,   &C. 

If  these  preliminary  hints  awaken  any  curio- 
sity, or  win  any  confidence,  towards  the  de- 
signs of  this  little  book,  you  will  not  throw  it 
aside  just  yet ;  nor  wonder  if,  before  resuming 
this  part  of  the  subject.  I  take  great  pains  to 
secure  the  attention  and-  confidence  of  daugh- 
ters, as  well  as  of  mothers.  Read  the  next 
chapter,  therefore,  on  their  account,  or  to  your 
daughters  ;  and  do  give  weight  to  whatever  is 
experimentally  true  in  it,  by  setting  your  "  seal" 
to  its  truth. 


No.  II. 

A  DAUGHTER'S  PRINCIPLES  ANALYZED. 

IN  addressing  you,  "  I  will  (first)  incline 
my  ear  unto  a  Parable ;  I  will  open  my  dark 
saying  upon  the  harp"  of  ALLEGORY.  And, 
should  I  close  my  appeal  in  the  same  way,  you 
will  forgive  me.  Both  Rachel  and  Miriam  are 
real  characters,  and  will,  I  fear,  recognise 
themselves :  but  you,  I  hope,  will  try  in  vain 
to  identify  either. 

Both  young  men  and  maidens  venerated 
the  aged  SHESHBAZZAR,  and  vied  with  each 
other  in  honouring  his  grey  hairs  as  "  a  crown 
of  glory."  He  was  a  second  conscience  to  all 
the  youth  of  Beersheba,  who  studied  to  main- 
tain a  good  conscience  towards  God  or  man. 
When  the  young  men  looked  upon  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  Canaanites,  and  thought  of  allying 
themselves  with  "  aliens  from  the  common- 


52  A  DAUGHTER'S 

wealth  of  Israel,"  they  remembered  that  Shesh- 
bazzar  would  not  bless  the  forbidden  union  ; 
and  turned  their  attention  to  the  daughters  of 
the  Covenant.  When  the  maidens  of  Beer- 
sheba  were  fascinated  by  the  garb  and  bearing 
of  the  sons  of  Belial,  they  felt  that  they  could 
not  meet  the  eye  of  the  holy  Patriarch,  and 
drew  their  veils  closer  around  them  in  the 
streets.  Thus  all  the  plans  of  the  young  had 
a  tacit  reference  to  his  opinion,  and  the  hope 
of  his  approbation  and  benediction  mingled 
with  their  brightest  prospects.  "  What  will 
Sheshbazzar  think  of  me  1"  was  a  question, 
which,  however  simple  in  itself,  disentangled 
whole  webs  of  sophistry,  and  unmasked  the 
most  plausihle  appearances.  It  revealed  the 
secrets  of  the  heart  to  the  conscience,  and  the 
frauds  of  the  conscience  to  the  judgment.  It 
was,  indeed,  a  simple  question  ;  but  it  searched 
the  reins  like  <"  the  candle  of  the  Lord," — be- 
cause all  who  reflected,  felt  that  the  good  old 
man  could  have  no  object  but  their  good ;  and 
that  whatever  influence  he  had  acquired  over 


PRINCIPLES   ANALYZED.  53 

them,  was  won>  not  by  stratagem,  but  by 
weight  and  worth  of  character.  It  was  the 
spell  of  his  fine  spirit,  which,  like  the  mantle 
of  Elijah,  cast  upon  the  ploughman  of  Abel- 
meholah,  drew  them  after  him  as  with  "  cords 
of  love."  Amongst  the  daughters  of  the  Co- 
venant, who  listened  to  his  wisdom,  and  loved 
his  approbation,  Rachel  was  the  most  enthusi- 
astic. She  was  modest  as  the  lily  of  the  valley, 
but  sensitive  as  the  tremulous  dewdrops  which 
gemmed  it.  Like  the  clouds  of  the  spring 
upon  Carmel  or  Hermon,  she  wept  and  smiled 
in  the  same  hour.  Her  spirit  soared  at  times 
like  the  eagle  of  Engedi,  until  lost  in  the  light 
which  is  full  of  glory  ;  and,  anon,  it  drooped 
like  the  widowed  dove  in  the  gloomy  avenues 
of  Heshbon  and  Kedron.  She  was  alternately 
glowing  and  freezing ;  too  high  or  too  low. 
In  all  things,  but  in  her  modest  gentleness, 
she  was  the  creature  of  circumstances.  Even 
in  Religion,  she  had  no  fixed  principles.  She 
was  feelingly  alive  to  its  beauties,  but  dead  to 
its  real  spirit.  Whilst  it  inspired  thoughts 
6* 


54  A  DAUGHTER'S 

which  breathed,  and  words  which  burned,  with 
immortality,  she  was  enraptured  with  it:  but 
when  its  oracles  or  ordinances  led  to  thoughts 
of  penitence,  or  words  of  humiliation,  she  had 
no  sympathy  of  spirit  with  them.  She  wept, 
indeed,  over  her  fallen  nature  ;  but  not  because 
it  was  fallen  from  the  moral  image  of  Jehovah. 
The  loss  of  intellectual  power,  not  the  loss  of 
holy  feeling,  grieved  her.  She  felt  deeply 
mortified,  because  she  could  not  maintain  all 
the  mental  elevation  of  a  rational  being ;  and 
she  thought  her  mortification,  humility  !  She 
deplored  the  weakness  and  waywardness  of 
her  mind,  in  the  strongest  terms  of  self-abase- 
ment ;  but  not  because  her  mind  disliked  secret 
prayer  and  self-examination.  She  lamented 
that  she  had  so  little  communion  with  God  ; 
but  it  was  not  the  communion  of  a  child  with 
a  Father,  nor  of  a  penitent  with  a  Saviour,  but 
the  communion  of  a  poet  with  the  God  of  na- 
ture— of  a  finite  Spirit  with  the  Infinite  Spirit 
— that  had  charms  for  her.  She  admired  the 
prophets  ;  but  not  for  the  holiness  which  ren- 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED,  55 

dered  them  temples  meet  for  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  dwell  in,  and  speak  from  ;  but  because  of 
their  mysterious  dignity,  as  the  ambassadors 
of  Heaven.  She  gloried  in  the  altars  and 
mercy-seat  of  the  temple  ;  not  as  they  were 
types  of  salvation  by  the  atonement  of  the  pro- 
mised Messiah,  but  as  they  were  the  seat  and 
shrine  of  the  cloud  of  glory  and  the  sacred  fire. 
All  this  Sheshbazzar  saw  and  lamented.  But 
Rachel  was  gentle,  and  he  loved  her ;  she  had 
genius,  and  he  admired  her.  Men  of  one  idea 
thought  her  mad ;  and  men  with  half  a  heart 
deemed  her  a  mere  visionary.  Sheshbazzar 
regarded  her  as  a  young  vine  among  the 
rocks  of  the  Dead  Sea,  whose  grapes  are  em- 
bittered by  the  bitumen  of  the  soil ;  and  he 
hoped,  by  transplanting  and  pruning,  to  dis- 
place its  poisonous  juices.  But  the  difficulty 
was,  to  convince  her,  that  even  her  virtues 
were  like  the  grapes  of  Gomorrah,  unfit  to  be 
presented  "  before  the  Lord,  in  the  waive- 
ofFering  of  the  first  fruits,"  or  to  be  mingled  in 
"  the  drink-offering."  They  were,  indeed. 


56  A  DAUGHTER'S 

so  ;  for,  like  the  vines  of  Gomorrah,  she  bore 
fruit  to  herself,  not  to  the  glory  of  God.  Her 
morality  was  high-toned ;  but  only  because 
she  reckoned  immorality  beneath  the  dignity 
of  female  character.  Her  taste  was  simple ; 
but  only  because  she  deemed  follies  unworthy 
of  her  talents.  Her  sympathies  were  prompt 
and  tender  ;  but  they  were  indulged  more  for 
the  luxury  of  deep  emotion,  than  for  the  sake 
of  doing  good.  What  became  her — as  a  wo- 
man, and  a  woman  whom  Sheshbazzar  reck- 
oned "one  of  a  thousand,"  was  both  the 
reason  and  the  rule  of  her  excellencies.  She 
never  prayed  for  grace  to  sanctify  or  sustain 
her  character :  and  as  her  tastes  and  pursuits 
were  far  above  even  the  comprehension,  as 
well  as  the  level,  of  ordinary  minds,  Rachel 
never  suspected  that  her  "  heart  was  not 
right  with  God/'  The  Elders  of  the  city  had, 
indeed,  often  told  her  so  in  plain  terms,  made 
plainer  by  the  shaking  of  their  hoary  heads  : 
but,  although  she  was  too  gentle  to  repel 
the  charge,  she  only  pitied  their  prejudices. 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  57 

Sheshbazzar,  as  she  imagined,  thought  very 
differently  of  her  ;  and  his  smile  was  set 
against  their  insinuations.  He  perceived 
this  mistake,  and  proceeded  to  correct  it. 
He  had  borne  with  it  long,  in  hope  that 
it  would  gradually  correct  itself.  He  had 
made  allowances,  and  exercised  patience,  and 
kept  silence  on  the  subject,  until  his  treatment 
of  Rachel  began  to  be  reckoned  weakness,  and 
not  wisdom,  by  his  best  friends.  His  plan 
had  been  to  bear  aloft  his  young  eaglet  upon 
his  own  mighty  wings,  until  she  breathed  the 
air  of  spirits,  and  bathed  in  the  light  of  eter- 
nity :  and  then  to  throw  her  off  upon  the 
strength  of  her  own  pinions,  that  she  might, 
whilst  he  hovered  near  to  intercept  a  sudden 
fall,  soar  higher  in  the  empyrean  of  glory,  and 
come  down  "  changed  in  the  same  image," 
and  humbled  by  the  "  exceeding  weight"  of 
that  glory.  But  the  experiment  failed :  she 
descended  mortified  because  of  her  weakness, 
not  humbled  because  of  her  un worthiness.  He 
resolved,  therefore 


SU  A   DAUGHTER'S 

"  To  change  his  hand,  and  check  her  pride." 
"  Rachel,"  said  Sheshbazzar,  "  the  first  day 
of  vintage  is  near  at  hand,  and  there  is  but 
little  fruit  on  my  vines  :  could  we  not  send  to 
the  Dead  Sea  for  grapes  of  Gomorrah,  and  pre- 
sent them  before  the  Lord,  '  as  a  waive-offer- 
ing,  and  pour  them  out  as  a  drink-offering  r" 

Rachel  was  surprised  at  the  question ;  for 
it  was  put  solemnly,  and  betrayed  no  symptom 
of  irony. 

"  Grapes  of  Gomorrah  !"  Rachel  exclaimed  ; 
"  ask  rather,  if  strange  fire,  or  a  torn  lamb, 
may  be  safely  presented  at  the  altar  of  Jeho- 
vah ?  But  Sheshbazzar  mocketh  his  hand- 
maid. The  curse  is  upon  all  the  ground  of  the 
cities  of  the  plain  ;  and  moreover,  the  grapes 
of  Gomorrah  are  as  bitter  as  they  are  beauti- 
ful. Even  the  wild  goats  turn  away  from  the 
vines  of  Sodom.  What  does  my  father  mean  ? 
The  form  of  thy  countenance  is  changed  !  Like 
the  spies,  I  will  go  to  Eshcol  or  Engedi  for 
clusters  to  present  before  the  Lord-,  for  the 
Lord  our  God  is  a  jealous  God/' 


PRINCIPLE  SANALYZ  ED.  5§ 

"  True,  my  daughter,"  said  Sheshbazzar ; 
"  and  if  it  would  be  sacrilege  to  present  the 
grapes  of  Gomorrah  in  the  waive-offering,  be- 
cause they  grow  on  the  land  of  the  curse,  and 
have  imbibed  its  bitterness- ;  how  must  a  jea- 
lous and  holy  God  reject  the  homage  of  a 
proud  spirit  ?  The  fruits  of  that  spirit  draw 
their  juices  from  a  soil  more  deeply  cursed 
than  the  Asphaltic,— and  of  which  Gomor- 
rah, when  in  flames,  was  but  a  feeble  em- 
blem." 

"  But,  Sheshbazzar,"  said  Rachel,  "  to 
whom  does  this  apply  ?  IN  ot  to  your  spirit ; 
for  it  is  a  veiled  seraph,  lowliest  in  itself  when 
loftiest  in  its  adorning  contemplations.  And 
my  spirU — is  too  weak  to  be  proud.  I  feel 
myself  a  mere  atom  amidst  infinity.  I  feel  less 
than  nothing,  when  I  realize  the  Infinite  Spirit 
of  the  universe." 

"  It  is  well,  my  daughter  ;  but  what  do  you 
feel  when  you  realize  Him  as  the  HOLY  ONE 
who  inhabiteth  eternity  ?  Rachel !  I  never 
heard  you  exclaim,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 


60  A    DAUGHTER'S 

sinner !  You  have  called  yourself  an  atom  in 
the  universe — an  insect  in  the  solar  blaze — an 
imperfect  grape  on  the  vine  of  being :  any 
thing,  but  a  sinner.  It  was  not  thus  that 
Abraham,  and  Job,  and  Isaiah,  felt  before 
the  Lord.  It  is  not  thus  that  I  feel.  You 
think  me  like  the  grapes  of  Sibmah  and  En- 
gedi,  ripe  for  the  service  of  the  heavenly 
temple.  Ah,  my  daughter  !  nothing  but  '  the 
blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant'  keeps  me 
from  despair ;  and  there  is  nothing  else  be- 
tween you  and  Tophet." 

Rachel  trembled.  She  had  never  marked 
the  humility  of  the  Patriarchs,  nor  paused  to 
consider  what  the  soul  and  sin  must  be — see- 
ing they  required  such  an  atonement.  She 
retired  weeping ;  and,  for  the  first  time,  re- 
treated into  her  closet  to  pray  for  MERCY. 


However  the  first  discoveries  of  the  beauty 
of  holiness  may  be  made,  and  whatever  may  be 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  61 

the  first  motives  which  induce  any  one  to  de- 
sire to  follow  holiness,  neither  its  nature  nor 
its  necessity  are  rightly  understood,  until  both 
the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  and  the  sancti- 
fying grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  duly  con- 
sidered. Until  we  look  to  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  and  the  sanctification  of  the  Spirit,  as 
the  only  way  of  acquiring  that  holiness  which 
constitutes  meetness  for  heaven,  no  moral  sen- 
timents, however  pure,  and  no  sense  of  the 
beauty  of  virtue,  however  delicate,  amount  to 
"  a  clean  heart"  or  "  a  right  spirit"  towards 
God.  She  who  carries  her  inquiries  after  the 
principles  of  true  holiness  no  farther  than  just 
around  the  circle  of  its  duties,  and  over  the 
surface  of  its  proprieties,  ill  deserves  the  high 
privilege  of  possessing  a  Bible,  and  has  no 
right  to  call  herself  a  Christian. 

It  is,  indeed,  both  proper  and  necessary  to 
sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  on  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
learning  morality  from  his  precepts  :  but  it  is 
equally  essential  to  sit  at  his  feet  in  Gethse- 
mane,  where  he  trod  the  wine-press  of  the 
6 


62  A.  DAUGHTER'S 

wrath  of  God ;  and  on  Mount  Calvary,  where 
he  made  his  soul  an  offering  for  sin ;  learning 
there,  also,  the  real  evil  of  sin,  and  the  infinite 
expense  at  which  it  is  pardoned  and  taken  away. 
In  saying  this,  I  ^do  not  forget  nor  under- 
value the  sweet  influence  which  holy  example 
exerts  over  some  gentle  and  ingenuous  spirits. 
The  Shunamite  is  not  the  only  woman  whose 
attention  and  good  will  to  piety  have  been  con- 
ciliated, in  the  first  instance,  by  the  weight 
and  worth  of  a  ministerial  character  like  Eli- 
sha's.  Day  after  day,  she  saw  the  prophet 
moving  about  in  his  sphere  of  public  duty,  like 
a  commissioned  angel,  with  equal  meekness 
and  patience  ;  happy  in  his  work,  and  transpa- 
rent in  all  his  character :  and  this  contrast  be- 
tween Elisha  and  hirelings,  led  her  to  cultivate 
flis  friendship.  "  She  said  unto  her  husband, 
Behold  now,  I  perceive  that  this  is  an  holy 
man  of  God,  which  passes  by  us  continually  : 
let  us  make  a  little  chamber  on  the  wall,  I  pray 
thee  ;  and  set  there  for  him  a  bed,  and  a  table, 
and  a  stool,  and  a  candlestick." 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  63 

In  like  manner,  the  lovely  character  of  ex- 
emplary parents  and  friends,  has  often  sug- 
gested the  first  idea  of  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
and  excited  the  first  desire  to  be  holy.  The 
simple  reflection,  "  I  should  so  like  to  resem- 
ble them,"  has  not  unfrequently  led  to  imitation. 
But  imitation,  whenever  it  has  been  attempted 
on  a  large  scale,  has  soon  compelled  to  an  ex- 
amination of  the  secret  springs  of  eminent  holi- 
ness. The  want  of  success,  or  the  wayward- 
ness of  some  temper,  makes  the  young  candi- 
date pause  and  ask,  why  she  could  not  equal 
her  models,  nor  realize  her  own  wishes.  She 
expected  to  be  as  much  a  heroine  in  practice 
and  perseverance,  as  she  felt  herself  to  be  in 
theory.  She  took  for  granted,  that  she  had 
only  to  resolve  and  try,  in  order  to  be  as  good, 
as  amiable,  as  holy,  and  happy  in  religion,  as 
the  friends  she  admired  most ;  but  the  fond  as- 
pirant after  high  moral  excellence,  soon  found 
out  that  it  was  not  so  easily  attained  as  she 
imagined,  and  that  she  herself  was  not  so 
strong  in  principle  as  she  supposed. 


64  A  DAUGHTER'S 

This  discovery  is  always  the  result  of  honest 
endeavours  to  be  very  like  very  lovely  Chris- 
tians. It  is,  however,  a  most  important  dis- 
covery. It  may  stop  effort  for  a  time,  and  even 
discourage  hope  not  a  little  ;  but  it  leads  to 
such  an  observation  of  the  principles  and  mo- 
tives of  those  we  have  failed  to  copy,  as  soon 
explains  our  failure.  The  discovery  of  our  own 
weakness  is  followed  by  a  discovery  of  the 
secret  of  their  strength  and  success.  We  cease 
to  wonder,  (however  we  may  continue  to  weep,) 
that  we  made  so  little  progress,  when  we  re- 
solved to  be  as  good  as  the  best ;  for  we  both 
resolved  and  tried  in  our  own  strength  ;  or 
with  such  a  vague  reference  to  the  grace  of 
God  for  help,  that  success  was  impossible.  It 
could  not  be  otherwise,  whilst  the  cross  of 
Christ  was  to  us  only  a  solemn  fact  in  sacred 
history,  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  merely 
a  cardinal  article  of  the  creed.  Not  in  this 
tame  form  did  these  great  truths  stand  (we 
saw !)  before  the  minds  of  those  we  admired 
and  wished  to  resemble.  We  discovered  that 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  65 

the  Cross  and  Grace  were  the  only  pillars  on 
which  their  hopes  rested  ;  the  very  poles  upon 
which  their  habits  and  spirits  turned  ;  the  very 
source  and  centre  of  all  their  religion  and  mo- 
rality. This,  we  saw,  made  the  difference  be- 
tween them  and  us. 

These  are  invaluable  lessons  in  experience, 
whether  acquired  in  this  way,  or  by  some 
other  process.  They  are,  however,  incom- 
plete lessons,  whilst  they  only  lead  us  to  per- 
fect our  theology,  by  bringing  it  up  to  the 
standard  of  eminent  Christians.  It  is,  indeed, 
well  to  take  care  that  both  the  Cross  and 
Grace  have  all  that  prominence  in  our  creed 
which  they  hold  in  their  creed.  It  is  wise  to 
mark  minutely  how  they  glory  in  the  Cross, 
and  depend  on  the  Spirit,  at  every  step  and 
stage  of  their  piety.  It  is,  however,  quite  pos* 
sible  to  embrace  the  faith  of  the  saints,  because 
it  is  their  faith,  without  embracing  it  for  their 
chief  reasons.  They  glory  only  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  because  they  are  sinners.  This  is  their 
first  and  chief  reason  for  believing  as  they  do. 
6* 


66  A  DAUGHTER'S 

I  pray  your  attention  to  this  fact.  Your 
pious  friends  are  not,  indeed,  uninfluenced  by 
other  considerations  than  their  own  sinfulness, 
in  thus  making  the  Atonement  "  all  and  all," 
as  the  ground  of  their  hope.  They  are  much 
influenced  by  the  example  of  the  great  cloud 
of  witnesses  around  the  throne ;  all  of  whom 
washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb  :  by  the  example  of  the 
innumerable  company  of  angels  ;  all  of  whom 
also  look  into  the  sufferings  of  Christ  with  un- 
tiring wonder  and  intense  admiration :  and 
especially  by  the  example  of  the  Father,  who 
counts  the  Cross  the  glory  of  his  moral  go- 
vernment ;  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  con- 
fines his  agency  to  the  exhibition  and  applica- 
tion of  the  things  of  Christ,  for  the  glory  of 
Christ.  All  these  considerations  are  both 
load-stars  and  leading-stars,  to  bring  and  bind 
the  confidence  of  your  friends  to  the  Lamb  of 
God.  They  often  help  their  faith,  by  remem- 
bering how  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  shook 
the  flames  and  the  scaffold  with  the  shout, 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  67 

"None  but  Christ!"  and  by  listening  to  the 
New  Song,  as  it  swells  for  ever  louder  from  all 
the  harps  of  heaven.  Even  the  historic  truth 
and  the  moral  triumphs  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Cross,  have  no  small  influence  in  confirming 
the  faith  of  the  saints  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ. 
They  are  glad,  too,  that  the  wisdom  of  philo- 
sophy is  foolishness,  and  the  inspiration  of 
poetry  tameness,  compared  with  the  sublimity 
and  glory  of  the  Cross. 

Still,  whilst  all  these  considerations  have 
much  weight  with  intelligent  and  devoted 
Christians,  they  are  most  influenced  by  a  deep 
sense  of  their  own  personal  guilt  and  danger. 
They  feel  their  need  of  such  a  Saviour  as  the 
Lamb  of  God.  They  not  only  see  that  there 
is  nothing  but  the  blood  of  Christ  to  cleanse 
from  sin :  they  see  also  that  nothing  else  could 
cleanse  them  from  their  sins. 

Now,  I  need  hardly  say  to  you,  that  the 
Christians  you  admire  most,  were  not  greater 
sinners,  before  their  conversion,  than  others. 
In  general,  they  had  quite  as  fair  a  character 


68  A  DAUGHTER'S 

as  their  neighbours,  so  far  as  morals  were  con- 
cerned. They  were  not,  therefore,  driven  into 
their  deep  self-condemnation,  nor  into  their 
fear  of  perishing,  by  having  been  worse  than 
others.  How,  then,  came  they  to  think,  and 
feel,  and  act  towards  the  Saviour,  just  as  if 
they  had  been  the  very  chief  of  sinners  ?  You 
know  that  they  are  not  pretending,  when  they 
adopt  humiliating  confessions,  nor  when  they 
look  with  streaming  eyes  and  bleeding  hearts 
to  the  Cross.  The  real  secret  is  this :  they 
know  their  own  hearts  ;  watch  their  own  con- 
sciences ;  test  their  own  spirits  ;  and  thus  see 
and  feel  their  natural  alienation  from  God. 
What  pains,  humbles,  and  alarms  them  chiefly 
is,  the  awful  want  of  love  to  God,  which 
marked  their  early  history ;  and  the  sad  weak- 
ness of  their  love  to  Him,  since  they  believed 
that  "  God  is  Love."  Hence,  they  can  hardly 
conceive  how  their  ingratitude  and  insensibi- 
lity can  either  be  forgiven  or  removed.  Even 
with  all  the  glories  and  grace  of  the  Cross  be- 
fore them,  they  find  no  small  difficulty  in  try- 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  69 

ing  to  hope  for  their  own  salvation  :  because 
neither  that  salvation  itself,  nor  the  amazing 
sacrifice  at  which  it  was  provided,  has  such  an 
influence  over  them,  as  they  know  it  ought  to 
have.  Thus  they  find  causes  of  fear  or  sus- 
picion, even  in  the  very  grounds  of  hope  ;  be- 
cause those  grounds  do  not  affect  and  interest 
them  more  fully.  It  is,  therefore,  their  sins 
against  the  Cross,  quite  as  much  as  the  sins 
which  made  the  sacrifice  of  the  Cross  neces- 
sary, that  makes  them  feel  so  self-condemned. 
They  see  enough,  and  more  than  enough,  to 
condemn  them,  in  the  way  they  have  treated 
the  Atonement  made  to  save  them.  Thus, 
there  is  neither  pretence  nor  parade  in  their 
humility.  They  do — cling  to  the  Cross,  not 
only  because  they  wish  to  be  holy,  but  al- 
so because  they  are  conscious  that  they  de- 
serve the  wrath  to  come.  They  glory  in 
it,  not  merely  that  they  may  be  sanctified, 
soul,  body,  and  spirit ;  but  also  that  they 
may  be  plucked  as  brands  from  the  burning. — 
The  peril  of  perishing,  as  well  as  the  love 


70  A  DAUGHTER'S 

of  holiness,  influences  both  their  conduct  and 
spirit. 

Now,  unless  these  be  your  reasons  for  giv- 
ing the  Cross  a  higher  place  in  your  esteem 
than  it  had  at  first,  you  cannot  have  "  like 
precious  faith"  in  it  with  your  pious  friends ; 
nor  can  it  have  all  that  holy  influence  upon 
you  which  it  has  upon  them.  You  must  trust 
it  as  a  sinner,  if  you  would  have  it  transform 
you  into  a  saint.  You  must  flee  to  it  as  the 
only  refuge  of  the  Lost,  as  well  as  the  only 
remedy  of  the  unholy. 

You  see  this,  I  hope.  I  am  quite  sure  you 
will  consider  it.  It  may  not  be  altogether 
pleasant  or  plain  to  you  at  the  first ;  but  you 
have  already  thought  so  much  about  Christ,  and 
that  too  for  a  holy  purpose,  that  you  cannot 
stop  now.  Your  sense  of  duty,  and  your  desire 
to  be  truly  pious,  are  too  strong,  to  allow  you 
to  halt  half-way  between  Sinai  and  Calvary. 
I  will,  therefore,  suppose  at  once,  that  even 
this  night  you  will  retire  to  your  closet,  and 
bow  down  before  God,  as  a  penitent,  and  not 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  il 

merely  as  a  candidate  for  immortality,  as  a  sin- 
ner, needing  deliverance  from  the  wrath  to 
come ;  and  not  merely  as  an  imperfect  being, 
needing  only  improvement.  Remember ! — there 
are  none  in  heaven,  but  those  who  came  to  the 
Mercy-seat,  in  this  spirit,  and  for  this  purpose. 
This  is,  also,  the  very  spirit  of  all  those  on  earth, 
whose  piety  you  must  admire. 

Now,  I  should  not  at  all  wonder  (however 
much  you  may)  if,  on  taking  this  view  of  your 
own  case,  you  find  yourself  led  into  self-ab- 
horrence and  self-abasement,  as  well  as  into 
self-condemnation.  It  would  not  surprise  me 
in  the  least,  to  hear  you  cry,  "  Behold,  I  am 
vile :  unclean,  unclean ;  God  be  merciful  to 
me  a  sinner!"  Nay;  I  should  not  be  much 
startled,  even  if  you  were  so  alarmed,  at  first, 
by  the  discovery  of  your  own  alienation  from 
God,  as  to  be  unable  for  a  time,  to  hope  or 
pray  for  mercy.  Your  guilt  and  vileness,  in 
caring  so  little  about  the  God  of  salvation,  may 
open  upon  you  in  lights,  which  shall  only  re- 
veal "  clouds  and  darkness"  around  the  Mercy- 


72  A  DAUGHTER'S 

seat  at  first :  or,  some  one  sin,  which  has  only 
made  you  ashamed  hitherto,  may  so  shock 
your  conscience,  that  you  may  feel  as  if  you 
never  could  get  over  it,  nor  be  able  to  look  up 
to  God  again  with  complacency  or  composure 
This  is  not  an  uncommon  case.  Your  pious 
friends  have  felt  in  this  way  at  times.  Many 
feel  so,  without  knowing  how  to  obtain  relief, 
or  how  the  blood  cf  Atonement  meets  such  a 
case.  Now,  do  you  know  ?  Do  you  see  how 
the  blood  of  Christ  can  so  "purge  your  con- 
science from  dead  works,"  that  you  can  hence- 
forth "  serve  the  living  God,"  without  slavish  or 
tormenting  fear  ?  Do  you  see  enough  in  the 
grace  and  glory  of  the  Atonement,  to  lift  your 
spirit  over  that  sense  of  sinfulness  and  unwor- 
thiness,  which  creates  only  a  dread  of  God,  or 
doubts  of  his  willingness  to  save  ?  If  not,  you 
have  yet  much  to  learn  on  this  subject.  In- 
deed, you  have  not  yet  got  hold  of  that  "  horn" 
of  the  golden  altar  of  the  Atonement,  which 
enables  a  self-condemned  penitent  to  lift  her- 
self above  slavish  fear,  when  she  draws  nigh  to 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  73 

God  in  prayer,  in  sacraments,  and  in  practical 
duty.  Thus,  you  are  not  prepared  to  serve 
the  Living  God  "  without  fear,  in  holiness  and 
righteousness,  all  the  days  of  your  life." 

And  yet,  you  desire  to  do  so.  You  not  only 
feel  it  to  be  your  duty  to  serve  "  the  Lord  in 
the  beauty  of  holiness,"  but  you  are  trying  to 
serve  Him  better  than  formerly,  and  willing  to 
increase  and  improve  your  present  scale  of 
service.  Like  the  Israelites  at  Shechem,  in 
the  days  of  Joshua,  you  are  not  only  ready  to 
say,  "  The  Lord  our  God  will  we  serve,"  but 
ready  also  to  enter  into  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant of  obedience.  They,  you  recollect,  in- 
sisted upon  ratifying  their  promise  and  inten- 
tion by  a  covenant,  and  even  engaged  to  be- 
come witnesses  against  themselves  if  they  drew 
back.  So  far,  this  was  a  fine  spirit.  Joshua 
must  have  been  highly  gratified  to  hear  his 
dying  appeal, — "  Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye 
will  serve," — thus  warmly  and  honestly  re- 
sponded to.  I  say,  honestly  ;  for  there  is  no 
reason  whatever  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  the 
7 


74  A  DAUGHTER'S 

people,  when  they  thus  pledged  themselves* 
Nor  do  I  at  all  doubt  your  sincerity.  You 
may,  however,  doubt  my  kindness  or  candour, 
when  I  venture  to  say  to  you,  what  Joshua 
said  to  them,  "  Ye  cannot  serve  the  Lord  ;  for 
he  is  a  Holy  God."  I  mean,  you  cannot  serve 
him  "acceptably,"  until  you  are  influenced  by 
other  and  higher  motives  than  either  the  love 
of  virtue  or  the  fear  of  punishment.  Even 
some  distinct  and  deliberate  reference  to  the 
merits  of  Christ,  and  to  the  grace  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  necessary  to  help  or  perfect  your 
well-doing,  will  not  mend  the  matter.  Even  a 
determination  to  say,  after  having  done  your 
best,  "  We  are  but  unprofitable  servants,"  will 
not  forward  your  success  much.  Ye  cannot 
serve  the  Lord  acceptably,  but  as  an  entire 
debtor  to  the  blood  of  Christ  for  mercy  and 
grace  ;  "  for  He  is  a  Holy  God — a  Jealous 
God— the  Living  God!" 

These  distinctions  are  not  too  nice,  nor  these 
cautions  unnecessary,  nor  these  solemn  views- 
of  God  uncalled  for,  in  your  case.  You  need 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  75 

them  all,  and  will  never  do  so  well  as  you 
wish,  until  you  apply  them  all  to  yourself. 
You  doubt  this,  perhaps?  It  may  seem  to 
you,  that  you  could  not  serve  God  at  all,  if  you 
were  to  take  such  awful  views  of  his  character. 
You  may  be  ready  to  say,  "  Who  can  stand 
before  this  Holy  Lord  God  ?"  Accordingly, 
you  deem  it  better,  as  you  really  wish  to  serve 
him,  to  take  sweet  and  soothing  views  of  his 
character ;  to  dwell  chiefly  upon  His  love  and 
mercy  ;  to  realize  God  as  a  Father,  and  to  rely 
upon  Him  as  a  Friend.  And,  in  one  sense, 
you  are  right  in  judging  thus.  Indeed,  it  is  to 
this  lovely  view  of  the  Divine  character  I  want 
to  bring  and  bind  all  your  thoughts  and  affec- 
tions. Nothing  is  further  from  my  intention, 
than  terrifying  you  at  the  God  with  whom  you 
have  to  do.  I  would  teach  you  to  lay  your 
head  upon  his  knee — yea,  to  lean  it  upon  his 
bosom — as  calmly,  and  as  confidingly,  and  as 
cheerfully,  as  ever  you  hung  upon  a  father's 
neck,  or  reclined  upon  a  mother's  bosom.  It 
is  not  your  pleasing  ideas  of  God  I  want  to  in- 


76  A  DAUGHTER'S 

terfere  with.  I  am  not  leading  you  to  question 
the  truth  of  them ;  but  to  question  your  own 
right  or  warrant  to  take  such  views  of  God, 
whilst  your  views  of  the  Saviour  are  so  im- 
perfect. Now,  they  are  very  imperfect,  if  you 
see  and  seek  in  His  merits  nothing  more  than 
weights  to  turn  the  scale  of  mercy  in  your 
favour ;  or  to  make  up  the  defects  of  your  obe- 
dience. This  is  not  making  Christ  "  all  and 
all"  in  salvation.  This  is  not  glorying  in  the 
Cross  only.  This  is  making  Christ  but  half  a 
Saviour ! 

You  may  not  intend  this  ;  nor  yet  be  aware, 
exactly,  that  such  views  of  the  Lamb  of  God 
do  not  warrant  confidence  in  the  love,  nor  hope 
in  the  mercy,  of  God.  Such  views,  however, 
do  not  warrant  either.  They  are  better  than 
Socinian  views,  which  embrace  nothing  but  the 
example  of  Christ ;  and  better  than  legal  prin- 
ciples, which  look  for  mercy  as  the  reward  of 
good  works,  independently  of  Christ.  I  readily 
allow  this,  and  even  wish  you  to  attach  very 
great  importance  to  the  great  difference  which 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  77 

thus  exists  between  your  creed  and  Socinianism. 
You  regard  the  Saviour  as  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  and  his  death  as  a  real  sacrifice  for  sin. 
You  wonder  how  any  one  can  pretend  to  be- 
lieve the  Bible,  and  yet  deny  the  Divinity  and 
atonement  of  Christ.  You  feel,  that  were  you 
to  treat  Christ  as  merely  a  good  man  and  a 
great  martyr,  you  would  have  no  scriptural 
right  or  warrant  to  regard  God  as  a  Father,  or 
even  to  hope  in  His  mercy.  So,  then,  there 
are  some  views  of  Christ  so  low,  and  so  unlike 
the  Bible,  that  you  yourself  would  not  venture 
to  hope,  if  you  held  them.  At  least,  you  see 
clearly  that  they  do  not  go  far  enough  to  justify 
hope  in  God. 

Now,  we  shall  come  to  the  point  of  my  ar- 
gument with  you.  I  have  cheerfully  allowed, 
that  both  your  opinion  of  Christ,  and  your  de- 
pendence upon  him,  go  much  farther  than  So- 
cinianism or  Legalism  ;  but  the  question  is, — 
Do  they  go  far  enough  to  warrant  you  to  take 
those  encouraging  views  of  God  which,  you 
say,  are  essential  if  you  would  either  love  or 
7* 


78  A  DAUGHTER'S 

serve  him  well  ?  Now,  you  yourself  will  allow, 
that  if  your  dependence  upon  Christ  come  as 
far  short  of  the  degree  in  which  Paul  and  the 
first  Christians  depended  on  Him,  as  Socini- 
anism  comes  short  of  what  you  believe,  then 
you  too  are  wrong,  and  reckoning  without 
your  host,  whilst  taking  for  granted  that  you 
are  welcome  to  hope  as  much  as  you  like  in 
God.  Why  are  you  not  as  much  afraid  to  dif- 
fer from  Paul,  as  you  would  be  to  agree  with 
Priestley  ?  Weigh  this  question  ;  for  there  is 
almost  as  great  a  difference  between  your  de- 
pendence and  Paul's,  as  there  is  between  your 
opinion  and  Priestley's.  You  may  not  have 
intended,  nor  even  suspected,  this ;  but  it  is 
true.  Yes  ;  and  the  contrast  is  not  between 
you  and  Paul  only :  it  is  between  you  and  all 
the  dead  in  Christ.  Your  song  of  redemption 
is  not  the  "  New  Song"  of  the  Redeemed  in 
heaven.  Your  heart  is  not  in  unison  with  the 
harps  before^he  throne,  whilst  you  can  speak 
or  think  about  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  as  a 
balance  for  your  defects  and  imperfections. 


PRINCIPLES    ANA LYZED.  79 

There  is  no  such  sentiment  in  the  oracles  of 
God  on  earth,  or  in  the  lips  of  saints  in  heaven. 
There,  all  the  glory  of  salvation  is  ascribed  to 
the  Lamb  slain. 

Now,  it  is  this  sense  of  debt  to  the  Atone- 
ment, and  this  degree  of  dependence  upon 
Christ,  that  I  want  you  to  cultivate  as  your 
warrant  and  welcome  to  fill  your  whole  soul 
"  with  all  the  fulness"  of  God's  paternal  love 
and  tenderness.  But  neither  this  sense  of 
debt,  nor  this  exclusive  dependence,  can  ever 
be  felt,  whilst  you  avoid  to  think  of  God  as  the 
LIVING  God  :  and  this — you  do  ! 

Are  you  surprised  at  this  charge  1  Do  you 
suspect  that  I  attach  any  mystical  meaning  to 
the  scriptural  expression ,  "  the  Living  God  ?" 
I  do  not.  I  mean  nothing  more  by  it,  in  re- 
gard to  all  the  perfections  of  the  Divine  cha- 
racter, than  you  mean  in  regard  to  some  of 
them.  I  think  them  all  equally  alive  and 
lively  :  but  you  do  not.  You  do  not,  indeed, 
think  the  justice  of  God  dead  ;  nor  the  holiness 
of  God  dead  ;  nor  the  jealousy  of  God  dead. 


80  A  DAUGHTER'S 

You  revolt  at  the  bare  idea,  and  feel  it  to  be 
vulgar,  if  not  profane,  to  use  the  word  "  dead" 
in  any  connexion  with  God.  I  am  glad  you 
feel  thus  afraid  of  the  word :  let  your  fear  extend 
also  to  the  thing. 

Look,  then,  at  all  that  you  mean  by  the  word 
"  living,"  when  you  connect  it  with  the  Love, 
the  Mercy,  or  the  Grace  of  God.  There,  you 
give  it  a  wide  and  warm  meaning.  The  ever- 
enduring  life  and  liveliness  of  these  lovely 
perfections,  you  believe  and  admire.  Were 
they  dead — all  your  hopes  would  die  too. 
And  well  they  might !  A  God  without  love 
or  mercy,  would  be  as  useless  to  us  as  a  dead 
or  dumb  idol :  for  as  He  would  do  nothing  for 
us,  it  would  be  the  same  to  us  as  if  He  could  do 
nothing  for  us. 

I  keep  as  fast  hold,  you  see,  as  you  can, 
upon  all  that  you  admire  in  the  Divine  charac- 
ter. I  am  equally  afraid  with  yourself  (indeed, 
I  can  as  little  afford  as  you)  to  lose  sight  of  even 
one  ray  of  His  infinite  love.  Like  you,  I  rejoice 
with  joy  unspeakable,  that  it  liveth  and  abideth 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  81 

for  ever,  in  all  the  lustre  and  warmth  of  its 
original  glory.  But  then — so  does  also  the  ho- 
liness, the  justice,  the  integrity  of  God  !  These, 
too,  are  without  variableness  or  the  shadow  of 
turning.  But  you  do  not  rejoice  in  them.  You 
are  even  afraid  of  them.  You  do  not  allow 
yourself  to  exclude  them  from  the  character  of 
God,  nor  to  treat  them  as  if  they  were  dead  : 
but  their  life  is  not  much  connected  with  your 
hopes.  You  do  not  care  to  look  often  at  the 
Holiness  and  Justice  of  God,  as  they  live  and 
move  and  have  their  being  in  the  Gospel. 

Now,  this  is  what  I  meant,  when  I  charged 
you  with  avoiding  to  think  of  God  as  the  living 
God.  You  do  not  think  him  as  much  alive  to 
the  glory  of  his  justice  and  holiness,  as  to  the 
glory  of  his  grace  and  mercy :  and  the  conse- 
quence is, — you  do  not  feel  all  a  sinner's  need 
of  the  blood  of  Christ.  Holiness  and  justice 
had,  however,  quite  as  much  to  do  with  the 
Atonement  and  it  with  them,  as  love  or  mercy  had, 
or  they  with  it :  and  just  because  you  have  to  do 
with  both,  and  both  with  you.  Think  of  this  ! 


82  A  DAUGHTER'S 

And  now,  just  suppose  for  a  moment,  that 
you  had  to  deal  only  with  the  strict  justice  and 
the  perfect  holiness  of  Jehovah  :  how,  in  that 
case,  would  you  use  the  blood  of  Atonement  ? 
What  stress  would  you  lay  upon  it,  if  you 
knew  nothing  about,  any  love  or  mercy  but 
just  what  it  implied  ?  Would  you,  then,  em- 
ploy it  only  as  a  weight  to  turn  the  scale  in 
favour  of  your  soul  and  your  services  ?  Do 
you  not  see,  yea  feel,  through  all  your  spirit, 
that  you  would  require  to  plead  the  merits  of 
the  Atonement,  even  in  order  to  be  allowed 
to  serve  God  ?  Yes,  in  order  to  be  permitted  to 
serve  Him  at  all ! 

We  think  it  a  very  great  thing  indeed  when 
we  are  willing  to  serve  God  at  all ;  and  thus 
we  are  ready  to  take  for  granted,  that  he  must 
be  well  pleased  whenever  we  really  try  to  serve 
him.  And,  in  one  sense,  all  this  is  very  true. 
But,  how  came  any  one  to  be  willing  to  serve 
God  acceptably  ?  How  came  God  to  be  will- 
ing to  accept  any  service  from  fallen  man  on 
earth  ?  This  does  not  take  place  in  hell.  Fallen 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  83 

angels  are  neither  made  willing,  nor  allowed  to 
serve  God.  Why  ?  No  atonement  opened  a 
new  and  living  way  to  God  for  them.  Christ 
took  not  upon  him  their  sins  nor  their  nature  ; 
and  therefore  they  would  not  be  permitted  to 
try  the  service  of  God,  even  if  they  were  in- 
clined, which  they  are  not. 

Here,  then,  is  the  point  at  which  you  should 
begin  to  re-study  your  own  need  of  the  Atone- 
ment. You  want  it  first  to  warrant  you  even 
to  speak  unto  God  in  prayer,  about  either  your 
own  salvation  or  His  service.  For,  what  right 
have  you  or  any  one,  to  pray  for  mercy,  or  to 
offer  yourself  as  His  servant  ?  Not  the  sha- 
dow of  a  right,  from  what  you  are,  nor  from 
what  you  can  do.  Had  not  Christ  taken  upon 
him  your  nature  and  your  doom,  as  a  fallen 
creature,  you  durst  no  more  have  prayed,  or 
served,  than  fallen  angels  dare.  You  owe  all 
the  opportunity  you  have,  and  all  the  inclina- 
tion you  feel,  entirely  to  His  sacrifice.  But 
for  it,  there  would  have  been  no  more  means 
or  aids  of  grace  on  earth,  than  there  is  in  hell. 


84  A  DAUGHTER'S 

You  really  must  not  allow  yourself  to  be  led 
away  from  a  full  sight  and  sense  of  your  need 
of  Christ,  by  the  circumstances  of  the  world. 
You  see,  indeed,  something  as  natural  and  re- 
gular in  the  means  of  grace,  as  if  Christianity 
were  the  religion  of  nature ;  for  the  Gos- 
pel takes  little  children  into  the  school  of 
Christ,  and  makes  as  much  use  of  all  that 
creation  or  providence  affords  to  illustrate  sal- 
vation, as  of  all  that  heaven  and  eternity  fur- 
nish to  commend  it.  This  is,  indeed,  a  world 
almost  as  full  of  the  goodness  and  glory  of 
God,  as  if  it  were  neither  a  rebel  nor  a  fallen 
world.  The  system  of  religious  means  and 
motives,  which  is  around  you,  is  also,  as  much 
adapted  to  the  faculties  and  condition  of  men, 
as  we  could  well  imagine  a  system  of  mental 
discipline  or  moral  government  to  be,  to  angels 
or  a  newly  made  world  of  human  beings  ;  for 
it  touches  man  at  every  point  of  his  nature, 
circumstances,  and  time.  But  all  this,  instead 
of  being  allowed  to  hide  from  you  the  real  or 
the  full  place  which  Christ  holds  in  the  eco- 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  85 

nomy  of  human  affairs,  should  illuminate  that 
place,  and  make  him  appear  "  all  and  all"  in 
the  whole  array  of  temporal,  intellectual,  social, 
moral,  and  providential  good,  which  beams  and 
breathes  around  yon.  For  it  is  all  here,  just 
because,  and  only  because,  He  kept  or  brought 
it  here  by  his  Mediation  on  our  behalf.  But 
for  that,  all  temporal  blessings  would  have 
been  as  much  withdrawn  from  the  earth,  as 
they  are  from  hell ;  and  our  world  would  have 
been  as  destitute  of  means  or  motives  to  be 
religious,  as  is  the  prison  of  fallen  angels.  It 
is  not,  therefore,  your  actual  sins  only,  nor  the 
plagues  of  your  heart  alone,  that  create  your 
absolute  and  equal  need  of  a  Saviour,  in  com- 
mon with  the  worst.  You  are  one  of  a  fallen 
and  guilty  race  ;  one  of  an  apostate  and  im- 
pure family ;  and  one  of  them  by  your  own 
acts  and  inclinations,  as  well  as  by  descent  and 
inheritance.  You  have,  therefore,  no  personal 
right  to  cherish  the  shadow  of  a  hope,  nor  to 
offer  a  prayer  or  a  service  unto  God.  You 
owe  it  entirely  to  the  Atonement,  that  you  are 
8 


86  A  DAUGHTER'S 

allowed  to  worship  or  bow  down  before  Jeho- 
vah, either  as  a  suppliant  or  as  a  servant.  Do 
not  lose  sight,  therefore,  of  your  own  condi- 
tion, by  looking  round  upon  characters  inferior 
to  yourself.  Many,  alas,  are  far  inferior  both 
in  their  habits  and  spirit ;  but  still,  you  are 
not  so  much  above  the  worst  of  either  sex,  as 
you  are  beneath  the  standard  of  both  the 
Divine  image  and  law.  Besides,  what  is  it  to 
you,  whatever  others  are  ?  You  are  guilty 
and  unholy  in  your  own  way  and  degree  :  and 
for  no  guilt,  defect,  vanity,  folly,  or  evil,  of 
heart  or  character,  is  there  any  remedy  or 
remission,  but  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

The  following  allegory  will,  perhaps,  illus- 
trate this  Essay.  In  all  but  her  dilemma,  I 
commend  Miriam  to  your  imitation.  Alas, 
she  did  not  convert  Jared. 

Jared  and  Miriam  sat  together  by  "  the 
waters  of  Shiloah  that  go  softly."  The  setting 
sun  flushed  the  calm  rivulet  as  it  flowed  on 
towards  the  reservoir  of  the  temple. 

"  There,  Jared,"  said  Miriam,  "  is  an  em- 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  87 

blem  of  my  church.  The  Jordan  discharges 
itself  into  the  DEAD  SEA  ;  but  the  waters  of 
Shiloah  terminate  in  the  Temple  of  God.  Oh  ! 
that  we,  like  the  fountains  of  this  sacred  stream, 
mingling  their  waters,  could  unite  in  senti- 
ment, and  thus  flow  calmly  on  to  the  heavenly 
temple  of  God  and  the  Lamb.  But  as  I  can- 
not return  to  JUDAISM,  and  you  will  not  quit 
it — we  can  never  be  *  one  spirit.'  " 

"Miriam,  my  own  Miriam!  you  must  return 
to  the  God  of  our  fathers.  Know  you  not  that 
the  '  ANATHEMA  MARANATHA'  of  the  Sanhedrim 
will  be  pronounced  on  you,  from  the  chair  of 
Moses,  at  the  next  new  moon  ?  Surely  you 
will  not,  by  obstinacy,  incur  the  great  excom- 
munication of  the  sanctuary.  Why  should 
you  imagine  yourself  wiser  than  the  ELDERS  of 
Judah  ?  Let  me  lead  you  back  to  the  *  horns 
of  the  altar,'  to  ratify  your  vows  to  God  and 
to  me." 

"  Jared  !"  said  Miriam,  solemnly  and  firmly, 
"  the  great  excommunication  of  the  Sanhedrim 
will  sound  to  me  as  did  the  threatenings  of 


88  A  DAUGHTER'S 

Sennacherib,  King  of  Assyria,  to  Hezekiah ; — 
as  '  raging  waves  of  the  sea,  foaming  out  their 
own  shame.'  I  shall  pity  the  BOANERGESES, 
and  despise  their  thunders.  And  as  to  my 
vows  unto  you,  they  are  inviolate ;  although 
their  fulfilment  is  delayed  by  circumstances,  I 
have  no  wish  to  retract  my  betrothment ;  and 
if  I  had,  I  know  not  that  Christianity  would 
sanction  the  breach." 

"  The  blessing  of  the  God  of  Jacob  be  on 
you  for  this  assurance,  Miriam  !  but  I  cannot 
think  well  of  your  hardihood;  it  is  not  the 
heroism  it  seems  to  be." 

"  No,  Jared  ;  nor  is  it  the  ybo/-hardiness 
which  you  would  insinuate !  But,  forgive  me  ; 
I  will  not  take  offence.  You  mistake  my  new 
motives,  and  thus  misunderstood  my  new 
character.  I,  however,  cling  to  the  CROSS  of 
Christ,  as  if  nailed  to  it,  because  I  see  nothing 
else  between  me  and  hell.  My  guilty  and  un- 
holy soul  can  only  be  pardoned  or  purified  by 
the  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God  ;  and,  therefore, 
by  that  fountain  I  must — I  will  abide,  even  if, 


f»ftlN<MPL£-S   ANALYZED.  89 

like  Abel^  my  own  blood  should  crimson  the 
ACELDAMA." 

"  Miriam !  you  amaze  and  confound  me. 
This  is  absolute  raving.  A  priestess  of  APOLLO 
could  not  be  more  extravagant  when  rushing 
from  the  Tripod.  YOUR  guilty  and  unholy  soul, 
MIRIAM  !  How  can  you  thus  asperse  your 
own  pure  nature  and  character  ?  Your  soul  is 
pure  as  the  snow  upon  the  loftiest  summits  of 
Lebanon ; — at  least,  its  only  taint  is  heresy ; 
and  that  stain  will  soon  be  effaced  by  '  the 
waters  of  purification,'  in  the  temple.  Only 
quit  the  CHRISTIANS,  and  I  shall  soon  rejoice 
over  you,  as  in  the  days  of  old  ;  singing  this 
song  to  the  harp  of  Judah,  '  Though  ye  have 
lain  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye  be  as  the 
wings  of  a  dove  covered  with  silver,  and  her 
feathers  with  yellow  gold.  SELAH  !'  You, 
Miriam,  unholy !  It  is  as  if  the  dew  of  the 
morning  were  to  charge  itself  with  impurity." 

"  Jared,  and  could  the  dew,  even  on  Her- 
mon,  speak,  it  would  acknowledge  that  it  was 
formed  from  earthly  exhalations,  and  derived 
8* 


90  A  DAUGHTER'S 

its  purity  from  the  heavens.  And  as  to  your 
song  of  triumph,  you  will  never  be  warranted, 
if  I  quit  the  CROSS,  to  sing  it  over  me  ;  '  the 
wings  of  a  dove'  are  not  given  to  the  soul  that 
it  may  '  flee  away'  from  CALVARY.  No  ;  and 
were  my  wings  like  those  of  the  seraphim, 
*  full  of  eyes,'  their  starry  radiance  would  soon 
be  .extinguished,  like  the  glories  of  LUCIFER, 
were  I  to  cease  from  following  the  LAMB. 
But,  Jared,  you  think  lightly  of  SIN  ;  you  do 
not  see  its  evil,  nor  feel  its  malignity.  You 
regard  nothing  as  sin,  but  IMMORALITY  ;  and 
nothing  as  corruption,  but  VICE  ;  and,  because 
my  character  is  as  UNIMPEACHABLE  as  you 
suppose,  you  suspect  me  of  feigned  humility 
and  extravagant  penitence.  These  be  far  from 
me  !  I  would  that  I  were  more  humble  and 
contrite  ;  but  always  rationally — scripturally 
so." 

"  Well,  Miriam,  what  do  you  mean  by  SIN  ? 
You  surely  do  not  imagine  that  your  buoyant 
spirits  and  natural  sprightliness  are  criminal. 
And  as  you  have  always  honoured  your  pa- 


PRINCIPLES   ANALYZED.  91 

rents,  and  kept  the  law  from  your  youth  up- 
ward, what  have  you  to  repent  of?  Your  only 
sin  has  been  against  me  ;  and  you  persist  in  it 
by  delaying  our  marriage.  I  wish  you  would 
repent  of  this  sin  ;  and  as  John  the  Baptist  said, 
'  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance.' " 

•'  Jared,  be  serious  ;  my  repentance  towards 
God  has  no  small  or  slight  connexion  with  you. 
Until  of  late,  I  loved  YOU  more  than  GOD. 
This  melancholy  fact  weighs  heavily  on  my 
conscience." 

"  Until  of  late  !  And  of  late,  then,  Miriam, 
you  have  conquered  the  habit  of  loving  me.  Is 
this  what  I  am  to  understand  ?" 

"  No  !  Jared  ;  nor  have  you  the  shadow  of  a 
reason  to  suspect  it.  I,  indeed,  love  God  more 
than  formerly,  but  I  do  not  love  you  less  than 
usual.  I  feel  more  solicitude — tender,  intense 
solicitude^  in  your  behalf,  than  ever.  And, 
surely,  you  would  not  have  me  to  love  you  more 
than  God !" 

"  Certainly  not :  that  be  far  from  me,  Mi- 
riam !" 


92 

"  And  yet,  Jared,  you.  alas  ]  love  me  far 
more  than  you  love  God  ;  and  is  not  that  sin- 
ful and  symptomatic  of  an  unholy  heart  ?  You 
could  not,  indeed,  love  God  more  by  loving  me 
less  ;  but  supreme  love  to  Him  would  regulate 
your  love  to  me  without  at  all  lessening  its 
cordiality.  Oh,  consider  how  we  have  alien- 
ated our  hearts  from  God  hitherto  !  We  lived 
as  if  Jehovah  had  no  claims  upon  our  affec- 
tion, or  only  such  claims  as  the  ceremonial  law 
could  satisfy.  I  appeal  to  your  own  con- 
science !  How  often,  even  while  engaged  in 
the  duties  of  religion,  *  God  was  not  in  all  our 
thoughts  !'  We  went  to  the  Temple  and  the 
Synagogue  to  meet  each  other  on  the  SAB- 
BATH, and  while  our  lips  joined  in  the  songs  of 
Zion,  our  thoughts  centred  in  ourselves.  We 
regularly  witnessed  the  sacrifices  on  the  GREAT 
DAY  OF  ATONEMENT  ;  but  our  minds  were 
wholly  taken  up  with  the  sublime  music  of 
the  silver  trumpets,  and  the  simple  majesty  of 
the  Levitical  processions  around  the  golden 
altars.  We  partook  of  the  PASSOVER  for  the 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  93 

mere  pleasure  of  eating  together.  Often  have 
we  sat  under  this  palm-tree  while  the  priests 
were  drawing  water  from  the  fountains  of  Shi- 
loah,  and  '  pouring  it  out  before  the  Lord  ;  but 
we  marked  only  their  picturesque  beauty,  and 
felt  only  the  transport  of  enjoying  the  scene 
together.  And  at  the  hours  of  the  morning  and 
evening  sacrifice,  while  we  repeated  the  PRAY- 
ERS, we  did  not  '  pray  in  the  spirit.'  JARED  ! 
we  lived  for  each  other — not  for  the  glory  of 
God.  This  is  the  guilt  which  lies  heavily  on 
my  conscience  ;  these  are  some  of  the  melan- 
choly facts  which  convince  me  that  my  soul  is 
naturally  unholy  ;  and  so  is  your  soul" 

11  Well,  Miriam,  suppose  I  grant  all  this  : 
see  ye  not  what  the  concession  involves  ?  No- 
thing less  than  the  duty  of  your  return  to 
Judaism  ;  for  if  you  are  guilty  by  not  honour- 
ing the  sacrifices  sufficiently,  how  great  must 
your  guilt  become  by  neglecting  and  renounc- 
ing them  entirely !  You  are  caught — -you  are 
completely  entangled  in  your  own  net, Miriam!" 

"  Ah,  Jared,  I  had  hoped,  from  the  serious- 


94  A  DAUGHTER'S 

ness  with  which  you  listened  to  my  confes- 
sions, that  you  were  joining  in  them  for  your- 
self. I  am  disappointed ;  but,  notwithstand- 
ing, 1  will  answer  you.  I  am  not  at  all  in- 
volved in  deeper  guilt  by  neglecting  the  sacri- 
fices. They  never  were  a  real,  but  a  typical 
atonement  for  sin  ;  and,  now  that  the  LAMB  of 
God  is  slain  for  the  sin  of  the  world,  to  honour 
them  would  be  to  dishonour  HIM.  On  my  own 
principles,  therefore,  a  return  from  the  glorious 
SUBSTANCE  to  the  shadows  of  it,  would  render 
my  guilt  unpardonable.  Besides,  were  it  safe 
to  return,  what  a  loss  of  enjoyment  I  should 
sustain  !  The  transition  from  the  CROSS  to  your 
altars  again,  would  be  to  me  as  Mount  Moriah 
would  be  to  Abraham,  now  that  he  has  spent 
ages  in  Paradise  ;  as  the  cloud  on  Sinai  would 
be  to  MOSES,  now  that  he  has  communed  with 
Jehovah  '  in  light  full  of  glory  ;'  as  the  wilder- 
ness to  the  whole  church  of  the  first-born  in 
heavea,  now  that  they  are  without  spot  before 
the  "throne  o  God  and  of  the  Lamb.  1  do  not 
affect  what  I  do  not  feel ;  those  spirits  of  just 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  95 

men  made  perfect  would  lose  only  a  part  of 
their  bliss  by  exchanging  worlds ;  but  were  I 
to  exchange  the  CROSS  for  the  altar,  all  my 
happiness  would  change  into  '  a  fearful  looking 
for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indignation.'  For, 
if  '  he  that  despised  Moses'  law  died  without 
mercy,  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  sup- 
pose ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who 
hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and 
counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant  an  unholy 
thing  V  " 

"  Your  reasonings  would  be  powerful,  Miriam, 
and  your  solemn  conclusions  just,  were  your 
premises  true.  But  a  truce  to  this  theological 
warfare ; — it  would  suit  a  Sanhedrim  of  RABBINS 
better  than  it  does  a  young  man  and  a  maiden 
of  Israel,  under  the  shade  of  a  palm-tree,  on 
the  banks  of  Shiloah.  It  was  not  exactly  thus 
that  JACOB  and  RACHEL  reasoned  amongst  '  the 
green  pastures,'  and  by  'the  still  waters'  of 
Padanaram." 

"  But  it  is  thus  they  reason  now,  Jared, 
where  '  the  LAMB  himself  leads  them  to  living 


96  A  DAUGHTER'S 

fountains  of  water'  in  heaven ;  and  all  the 
armies  of  heaven  unite  with  them  in  admirino- 

o 

and  adoring  the  Lamb  of  God.  Besides,  RA- 
CHEL had  no  occasion  to  reason  with  Jacob  ;  his 
heart  was  right  with  God,  and  his  soul  safe  for 
eternity." 

"  Which  mine  are  not !  you  would  say, 
Miriam." 

"  Which,  MINE  were  not,  Jared,  until  I  was 
reconciled  to  God,  by  the  cross  of  Christ. 
Until  the  love  of  Christ  won  my  heart,  I  was 
utterly  unfit  for  heaven  ;  for  I  had  hardly  one 
sentiment  or  feeling  in  harmony  with  the  en- 
joyments or  the  engagements  of  Paradise.  As- 
a  matter  of  taste,  I  had,  certainly,  revelled  in 
the  visions  of  IMMORTALITY,  when  it  was  illu- 
minated by  the  Gospel,  before  I  believed  that 
Gospel.  I  could  not  resist  the  poetical  attrac- 
tions of  the  Christian  heaven.  Its  thrones  of 
light,  crowns  of  glory,  harps  of  gold,  palms  of 
victory,  and  its  many  mansions  of  bliss,  fixed 
my  imagination,  and  elevated  my  soul.  I 
wished  such  an  inheritance  of  glory.  I  felt 


PRINCIPLES    ANA  LYZED.  97 

that  a  different  heaven  would  not  satisfy  me. 
I  saw,  too,  that  it  was  '  Abraham's  bosom' 
opened ;  the  heaven  of  the  FATHERS  unveiled. 
This  heightened  its  fascinations  ;  but,  at  that 
moment,  I  discovered  that  I  was  utterly  unfit 
for  it.  I  desired  a  crown  of  glory,  but  felt  that 
I  could  not  place  it  at  the  foot  of  the  LA.MB  ; — 
a  harp  of  gold,  but  not  to  sing  the  '  NEW 
SONG  ;' — a  palm  of  victory,  but  not  to  wave  it 
in  the  train  of  Christ !  My  proud  heart  re- 
volted at  the  bare  idea  of  such  subjection  to 
HIM.  I  said,  in  my  haste,  Were  all  this  ho- 
nour confined  to  Jehovah,  the  Christian  heaven 
would  be  my  choice  ;  but  to  divide  the  honour, 
by  worshipping  the  Lamb ! — I  spurned  the 
thought.  And  yet,  TARED,  I  did  not  feel  at  ease 
in  doing  so.  I  had  misgivings  of  heart,  as  well 
as  prejudices  ;  and,  in  order  to  calm  my  fears, 
I  was  compelled  to  express  unto  Jehovah,  my 
supreme  regard  to  his  glory,  and  my  sincere 
veneration  of  his  authority.  These,  I  said, 
were  my  sole  reasons  for  rejecting  the  Gospel. 
Then  I  began  to  strengthen  these  reasons,  by 
9 


98  A  DAUGHTER'S 

studying  the  DIVINE  CHARACTER  ;  for  still  the 
Christian  heaven  kept  its  hold  upon  my  heart. 
I  could  not  forget  its  scenes  and  society.  I  felt 
as  if  I  was  not  right.  I  therefore  plunged,  as  it 
were,  into  the  contemplation  of  the  Divine 
character.  THEN,  I  saw,  I  felt,  that  I  could 
not  'stand  before  God.'  It  flashed  upon  me 
with  all  the  keenness  of  sensation,  that  I  could 
not  bear  to  see  GOD  AS  HE  is !  His  holiness 
and  justice  appeared  to  me  like  the  dark  side 
of  the  Shechinal  pillar  to  the  Egyptians,  over- 
whelming !  And  yet,  it  was  *  the  beauty  of  his 
holiness,'  it  was  the  glory  of  his  justice,  that 
overwhelmed  me.  I  saw  not,  I  felt  not,  at  the 
time,  their  terrors.  One  deep,  calm,  solemn, 
awful  conviction  penetrated  and  pervaded  my 
whole  soul ;  it  was,  that  I  could  not  bear  an 
ETERNITY  in  the  presence  of  JEHOVAH  !  I  had 
never  thought  of  this  before,  but  taken  for 
granted,  that,  if  I  only  were  admitted  to  hea- 
ven, all  would  be  right.  But  when  I  consider- 
ed that  I  had  no  delight  in  the  character  of 
God,  and  that  he  could  not  love  nor  approve 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  99 

this  state  of  mind,  I  saw,  at  a  glance,  that,  while 
my  heart  was  thus  dead  to  his  excellence,  I 
could  have  no  communion  with  Him,  nor  with 
the  spirits  who  were  alive  to  it.  THEN — then, 
Jared,  came  the  inquiry — How  can  I  be  recon- 
ciled unto  God  ?  How  can  I  become  such  a 
•character,  that  He  can  look  upon  me,  and  I 
upon  Him,  with  complacency,  for  ever  and 
ever  ?" 

"  Go  on,  Miriam,  this  view  of  the  matter  is 
almost  new  to  me." 

"  To  me,  Jared,  it  was  altogether  new.  Until 
the  immortality  brought  to  light  by  the  Gospel, 
drew  my  soul  within  the  veil,  and  confronted 
me,  in  thought,  with  Jehovah,  I  had  no  idea 
that  I  was  unfit  for  an  eternity  of  his  presence 
in  heaven ;  for  I  had  never  before  paused  to 
consider,  that,  when  he  shall  be  seen  '  AS  HE 
is,'  ihen  the  light  which  reveals  him,  will  reveal 
the  evil  of  sin,  in  all  its  enormity — and  '  the 
beautias  of  holiness,'  in  ail  their  glory.  But, 
to  see  sin  thus,  and  feel  its  principles  within 
me  !  to  see  holiness  thus,  and  not  feel  all  its 


100  A    D  A  U  G  H  T  E  R'S 

principles  within  me  !  would  render  the  Divine 
presence  intolerable.  Heaven  could  not  make 
me  happy  under  such  circumstances. 

"  Well  might  the  Prophet  exclaim,  '  Who 
can  stand  before  this  Holy  Lord  God  !'  Jared  ! 
I  could  not  stand  before  you,  without  con- 
fusion of  face  and  heart  tou,  were  1  conscious 
of  not  loving  you  as  I  ought.  How  over- 
whelming then  would  an  eternity  of  the  Divine 
presence  be,  without  the  consciousness  of  entire 
and  intense  love  to  God !  I  felt  this — and  felt, 
too,  that  I  neither  had,  nor  could  produce  such 
love  to  him.  The  necessity  of  it  was  self- 
evident,  but  the  acquisition  of  it  seemed  impos- 
sible. Thus  my  own  conscience  shut  me  out 
of  heaven.  But,  by  this  process,  God  was 
*  shutting  me  up  unto  the  faith.'  Accordingly, 
the  moment  I  saw  that,  by  believing  his  testi- 
mony concerning  Christ,  I  should  be  justified 
and  adopted,  and  thus  placed  under  the  sancti- 
fying influences  of  his  Spirit,  I  found  it  impos- 
sible not  to  love  God.  My  way  was  then  clear  : 
and  now  I  see  clearly  how  the  perfection  of  the 


PRINCIPLES    ANALYZED.  1Q1 

atonement  will  give  eternal  peace  to  the  con- 
science, and  secure  such  purity  of  soul,  that 
the  open  vision  of  God  will  neither  overpower 
nor  embarrass  the  followers  of  the  Lamb." 

"  Miriam,  Paul  should  have  made  an  excep- 
tion in  your  favour,  and  suffered  you  to  speak 
in  the  Church.  I  will  certainly  suffer  you  to 
speak  at  home,  if  you  are  always  thus  eloquent. 
1  love  eloquence  ;  and,  although  I  dislike  your 
Gospel,  as  you  call  it,  I  will  not  contradict  you. 
You  shall  have  your  own  way  in  religion. 
Can  you  wish  for  more  from  '  a  Hebrew  of  the 

Hebrews  V  "     Miriam  wept ! 
9* 


No.  III. 


EMBLEMS  OF  HOLINESS. 


IT  was,  indeed,  a  Poet  who  compared  "  the 
beauties  of  Holiness,"  to  "  to  the  dew  of  the 
morning  ;"  but  the  comparison  is  not  a  poetical 
license.  It  is  poetry  of  the  highest  order  :  but 
it  is  also  sober  fact.  The  Harp  of  Juda  breathed 
it  in  music  :  but  an  inspired  hand  swept  the 
strings.  David  was  a  Prophet  as  well  as  a 

poet ;  and,  therefore,  we  are  both  warranted 

*  . 
and  bound  to  say,  when  he  predicts  the  number 

or  the  beauty  of  the  Church,  under  the  emblem 
of  morning  dew, — "  The  prophecy  came  not  in 
old  time  by  the  will  of  man ;  but  holy  men  of 
God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost."  Thus  it  was  the  Eternal  Spirit  who 
suggested  and  sanctioned  the  comparison  ;  and 
as  he  is  both  the  author  and  finisher  of  all  true 

005 


EMBLEMS    OF     HOLINESS.  103 

Holiness,  we  may  be  quite  sure  that  dew  is 
neither  a  false  nor  a  fanciful  emblem  of  its 
beauty.  Besides,  splendid  as  Old  Testament 
emblems  of  Holiness  are,  they  are  not  so 
splendid  as  those  which  occur  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  Apostles  go  far  beyond  the 
Prophets,  in  emblazoning  Holiness.  They  as- 
sert its  sublimity,  as  well  as  its  beauty.  "We 
all,  with  open  face,  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same 
image,  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord."  Thus  Paul  represents 
growth  in  grace  as  growth  in  glory ;  or  pro- 
gressive sanctification  on  earth  as  akin  to  pro- 
gressive glory  in  heaven.  Neither  the  evening 
stars  of  the  Angelic  hierarchy,  pressing  upon 
the  spheres  of  its  morning  stars ;  nor  the  Ge- 
neral Assembly  of  Time,  rising  to  the  stature 
and  strength  of  the  elder  spirits  of  Eternity ; 
nor,  indeed,  any  assent  in  the  scale  of  heavenly 
perfection,  could  so  dazzle  him,  or  so  eclipse 
the  beauty  of  earthly  holiness,  as  to  make  him 
ashamed  to  call  its  progress,  a  change  "  from 


104  EMBLEMS     OF    HOLINESS. 

glory  to  glory."  He  goes  even  farther  and 
higher  than  this  ;  and  declares  that  Believers 
are  made  "  partakers  of  a  Divine  nature,"  by 
the  influence  of  the  great  and  precious  promises. 
Thus  it  is,  as  the  Saviour  said, "  That  which  is 
lorn  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  Both  Prophets 
and  Apostles  understood  this  sublime  fact,  and 
therefore  admired  and  celebrated  the  beauty  of 
holiness.  Paul,  especially  saw  and  pointed 
out  the  "  loveliness"  of  whatsoever  things  are 
pure.  Pe*.er  also  does  not  hesitate  to  call 
female  holiness  an  "  ornament,  which  is,  in  the 
sight  of  God,  of  great  price." 

It  is,  therefore,  neither  wise  nor  humble  to 
overlook  "  the  beauties  of  holiness."  God  him- 
self admires  them,  and  calls  them  "  the  riches 
of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints." 
And  the  Saviour  (who  never  flatters,  sentimen- 
talizes, or  compliments)  pronounces,  not  only  a 
special  benediction  upon  "the  pure  in  heart," 
but  says  also  in  unqualified  terms,  "  Herein  is 
my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much  fruit." 
Thus  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit  are  praised  for 


EMBLEMS     OF     HOLINESS.  105 

their  beauty,  as  well  as  enforced  for  their  ne- 
cessity. 

I  am  fiLiy  aware,  however,  that  by  bringing 
together  these  Scriptural  views  of  personal 
holiness,  I  may  startle,  if  not  discourage  for  a 
moment,  some  who  sincerely  desire  to  be  holy. 
It  may  seem,  in  this  lovely  and  lofty  form,  an 
impossible  thing  in  our  own  case.  We  may 
even  be  ready  to  exclaim,  on  casting  a  hurried 
glance  around  the  circle  of  our  pious  friends, — 
Whose  holiness  is  thus  beautiful  ?  Where  is 
the  sanctification  to  be  seen  which  resembles 
the  dew  of  the  morning ;  or  the  grace,  that  is 
glory  in  the  bud  ?  This  is,  however,  a  hasty 
question.  We  have  applied  both  these  pure 
emblems  to  some  of  our  friends,  who  were  ripe 
for  heaven,  when  they  were  removed  from  the 
earth.  Our  memory  lingers  upon  the  beauty, 
as  well  as  upon  the  strength,  of  certain  features 
of  their  character  and  spirit.  We  said  when 
they  died,  and  have  often  whispered  to  our- 
selves since,  O  that  I  were  as  "  meet  for  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light !"  Yea,  in 


106  EMBLEMS    OF     HOLINESS. 

regard  to  some  of  the  living  in  Jerusalem,  we 
feel  that  their  character  is  truly  lovely.  It  is 
not  spotless  ;  but  it  is  very  transparent  in  in- 
tegrity and  benevolence.  It  is  not  "  already 
perfect ;"  but  like  light,  it  is  shining  more  and 
more  unto  the  perfect  day.  Some  of  our  pious 
friends  have  such  worth  of  character,  that  their 
censure  or  approbation  weighs  with  us,  like 
the  decisions  of  a  second  conscience,  in  our 
breast :  we  have  such  entire  confidence  in 
their  candour  and  prudence  ;  in  their  discern- 
ment and  uprightness.  Thus  there  are  both 
Fathers  and  Mothers  in  Israel,  whose  holiness 
we  feel  to  be  very  beautiful.  Even  the  world 
cannot  withold  homage  from  it ;  it  is  so  con- 
sistent. And  in  the  fold  of  the  Church,  there 
are  both  sheep  and  lambs,  which  so  hear  the 
voice  and  follow  the  steps  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, that  we  can  easily  believe  in  their  case, 
how  He  who  laid  down  his  life  for  them,  should 
lead  them  gently,  and  even  "  carry  them  in  his 
bosom,"  when  the  way  is  rugged,  or  their 
strength  exhausted. 


EMBLEMS     OF     HOLINESS.  107 

Thus,  there  is  some  holiness  on  earth  worthy 
of  admiration,  as  well  as  of  imitation.  The 
image  of  God  upon  the  soul,  although  not  ge- 
neral, and  never  perfect  in  this  world,  is  yet  to 
be  seen  here  and  there,  like  "  a  lily  amongst 
thorns,"  lovely  in  itself  and  illustrious  by  con- 
trast. Neither  the  Abrahams  nor  the  Sarahs, 
the  Zechariahs  nor  the  Elizabeths,  the  Rachels 
nor  the  Marys  of  antiquity,  are  without  paral- 
lels in  our  own  times,  or  without  successors  in 
our  spheres. 

"  But  none  of  them,"  it  may  be  said,  "  ad- 
mire their  own  character,  or  see  any  beauty  in 
their  own  holiness.  We  admire  them:  but 
even  the  best  of  them  abhor  themselves,  and 
can  neither  bear  to  speak  nor  think  of  their 
own  excellence  :  How  is  this  ?"  It  is  easily 
accounted  for.  Eminent  holiness  is  always 
accompanied  with  profound  humility.  Accor- 
dingly, even  in  Heaven,  the  Seraphim  veil 
their  faces  with  their  wings,  and  the  crowned 
martyr  uncrowns  himself  before  the  throne :  no 
wonder,  therefore,  if  the  saints  on  earth  hide 


108  EMBLEMS    OF    HOLINESS. 

their  faces  in  the  dust  of  self-abasement,  when 
they  think  or  speak  about  themselves.  The 
beauty  of  angelic  holiness — the  beauty  of  JE- 
•,  H'S  glorious  holiness,  is  before  their  eyes 
vividly  arid  constantly;  and  in  its  pres< 
they  may  well  say,  "  Behold,  I  am  vile,  and 
abhor  myself:"  for  as  the  natural  eye  feels 
nothing  but  its  own  weakness  when  it  gazes 
upon  the  meridian  sun,  so  the  eye  of  the  mind 
can  see  nothing  but  deformity  and  imperfection 
in  the  heart  and  character,  when  it  gazes  upon 
the  infinite  and  immaculate  purity  of  the  God- 
head. No  saint,  who  compn -hf-rids  at  all  the 
heights  or  depths,  the  lengths  or  breadths,  of 
the  Divine  image,  can  ever  be  satisfied  with 
his  own  holiness,  or  cease  to  !•<•  ;i-.lnmed  of  it, 
until  he  awake  in  besrefl  in  all  the  beauty  of 
the  moral  image  of  God.  "  As  for  me,"  said 
David,  "  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in 
thy  likem---."  Thus  he  who  recognised  in 
earthly  holiness  the  beauty  of  the  morning  dew, 
was  not  satisfied  with  its  purity  or  splendour. 
He  saw  in  it  also,  as  in  dew,  an  evanescence, 


EMBLEMS     OF     HOLINESS.  109 

and  a  weakness,  and  a  sediment,  which  filled 
himself  with  shame,  and  kept  him  from  compli- 
menting others.  Still,  whilst  this  is,  and  ever 
ought  to  be,  the  humbling  effect  of  clear  and 
solemn  views  of  Divine  Holiness,  it  is  of  him- 
self\  not  of  his  holy  principles  themselves  that 
a  Christian  is  thus  ashamed.  He  does  not 
think  lightly  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  his  heart  and  conscience,  because  he 
thinks  meanly  of  himself.  He  does  not  con- 
found the  Spirit  with  the  flesh,  nor  the  law  of 
his  mind  with  the  law  in  his  members,  when 
judging  of  his  own  character.  He  sees,  in- 
deed, far  more  evil  than  good  in  himself;  but 
he  no  more  calls  the  good  evil,  than  he  calls 
the  evil  good.  He  is  more  pained  by  the 
plagues  of  his  heart,  than  pleased  with  its  best 
feelings  or  principles :  but  still,  he  is  very 
thankful  for  whatever  grace  he  has  obtained. 

In  making  these  distinctions  I  do  not  forget, 

that  there  are  times,  (and  these  not  few  nor 

far  between,  in  the  case  of  some  holy  men  and 

women,)  when  a  real  Christian  is  so  absorbed 

10 


110  EMBLEMS    OF    HOLINESS. 

and  shocked  by  the  plagues  of  his  heart,  that 
he  is  ready  to  unchristianize  himself  entirely. 
In  the  hurry  and  agitation  of  these  awful  mo- 
ments, he  does  confound  the  Spirit  with  the 
flesh  :  and  instead  of  saying  like  Paul,  "  in  me 
(that  is,  in  my  flesh)  dwelleth  no  good  thing," 
he  says,  "  in  me,  soul,  body,  or  spirit,  dwelleth 
no  good  thing."  He  forgets  the  law  of  his 
mind,  whilst  the  law  of  sin  and  death  is  thus 
in  fearful  power. 

These  volcanic  bursts  of  the  old  nature  are  not, 
however,  so  lasting  as  they  are  overwhelming. 
Even  whilst  they  do  last,  they  are  so  deplored, 
and  hated,  and  loathed  by  the  Christian  him- 
self, that  it  is  quite  obvious  to  others,  however 
he  may  overlook  the  facts,  that  neither  his  will 
nor  his  taste  is  a  consenting  party  to  the  re- 
bellion within.  The  horror  it  creates,  proves 
that  he  loves  holiness.  The  old  man  does  not 
rebel  in  this  way,  where  there  is  no  attempt 
nor  desire  to  "  put  on  the  new  man,  which  is 
created  after  the  image  of  God."  Both  "righte- 
ousness and  true  holiness,"  have  struck  their 


EMBLEMS   OP    HOLINESS.  HI 

roots  deep  into  the  heart,  which  thus  bleeds 
and  is  ready  to  break,  when  nature  overpowers 
grace.  Indeed,  it  is  "  the  root  of  the  mat- 
ter," making  room  for  striking  itself  deeper 
and  spreading  itself  wider,  that  causes  this 
convulsion  and  struggling  among  the  roots  and 
branches  of  indwelling  sin.  Accordingly, 
Paul  said,  "  when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  pre- 
sent with  me."  And  again,  "  when  the  com- 
mandment came,  sin  revived."  Thus  it  is  only 
in  the  heart  which  tries  to  delight  in  the  law 
of  God,  that  this  strong  rebellion  is  much  felt 
or  noticed.  There,  however,  it  creates  posi- 
tive wretchedness  whilst  it  lasts  ;  and  when  it 
subsides,  who  can  tell  the  joy  of  a  Christian  ? 
It  is  joy  unspeakable,  when  his  gracious  prin- 
ciples begin  to  lift  up  their  heads  again  after 
the  conflict :  and  it  is  "  full  of  glory,"  when 
he  finds  himself  looking  again  with  some  faith 
and  hope  to  Christ  and  Holiness.  Then,  like 
Paul,  he  adds,  "  Thanks  be  unto  God  who 
giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ :"  this  sweet  song  follows  the  bitter 


112  E  M  B  L  E  M  9    0  F    H  0  L  I  N  E  9  S. 

cry,  "  O  wretched  man  that  I  am !  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?" 
Thus  a  Christian  not  only  rallies  after  appa- 
rent defeat,  but  also  learns  the  worth  of  his 
holy  principles,  which  kept  sin  hateful  when 
it  was  most  headstrong,  and  holiness  beautiful 
whilst  most  opposed.  In  ordinary  circum- 
stances, however,  much  caution  is  requisite,  in 
rightly  dividing  our  attention  between  the  ne- 
cessity and  the  beauty  of  holiness.  Far  better 
follow  it,  simply  because  without  it  no  one  shall 
"  see  the  Lord,"  than  follow  it  ostentatiously, 
to  be  "  seen  of  men."  The  Pharisees  forgot, 
this,  and  became  equally  legal  and  lofty.  As 
soon  as  they  thought  themselves  righteous, 
they  despised  others.  "  Stand  aside,"  soon 
grew  out  of  the  boast,  "  I  am  holier  than 

O  ' 

thou."  This  melancholy  fact  should  teach  us 
to  be  even  jealous  of  our  own  hearts.  They 
are  capable  of  being  "puffed  up,"  by  moral, 
as  well  as  by  intellectual  superiority.  Self- 
complacency  can  plume  itself  upon  graces,  as 
well  as  upon  gifts. 


EMBLEMS  OF  HOLINESS.  113 

We  must  not,  however,  learn  more  from  the 
warning  example  of  the  Pharisees  than  it  was 
intended  to  teach.  Now,  it  never  was  held  up 
to  convey  or  suggest  the  idea,  that  true  holi- 
ness could  betray  us  into  pride  or  self-righte- 
ousness. No ;  the  farther  we  follow  real  holi- 
ness, the  farther  we  shall  be  from  vanity  and 
legality,  and  the  lower  we  shall  lie  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  and  at  the  footstool  of  the  mercy- 
seat.  The  holiest  of  the  holy  men  and  women 
of  old,  were  always  the  humblest  of  their  ge- 
neration :  and  for  this  obvious  reason  ;-— they 
made  the  law  of  God  the  standard,  and  the 
image  of  God  the  model,  of  their  holiness  :  and 
with  these  infinite  mirrors  for  ever  before  them, 
they  could  neither  admire  themselves,  nor  di- 
vide their  confidence  between  faith  and  works. 
It  was  ceremonial  holiness  that  betrayed  the 
Pharisees.  They  made  righteousness  to  con- 
sist in  repeating  a  certain  number  of  prayers  ; 
in  paying  the  regular  tithes,  and  in  observing 
the  stated  feasts  and  festivals  of  the  temple. 
In  these  things  they  were  more  precise  or  more 
10* 


114  EMBLEMS   Or    HOLINL 

ostentatious  than  others  ;  and  thus  they  came 
to  despise  others,  and  to  flatter  themselves. 
Not  a  man  of  them,  however,  would  or  could 
have  done  so,  if  he  had  studied  holiness  iu  the 
moral  law,  or  in  the  revealed  image  of  God. 
Either  of  these,  if  honestly  contemplated, 
would  have  been  a  '•  schoolmaster"  to  bring 
them  to  Christ.  For,  who  can  look  at  the  per- 
fection required  by  the  law,  or  at  the  p. 
implied  in  conformity  to  the  Divine  image,  and 
not  see  that  a  justifying  Saviour  and  a  sancti- 
fying Spirit  are  equally  necessary  in  order  to 
her  salvation  ?  The  soul  that  is  intent  upon 
true  holiness,  must  depend  on  Christ  and  G 
entirely,  or  despair  entirely:  for  all  the  natural 
reasons  of  duty  are  moral  reasons  for  despair. 
Mediatorial  reasons  only  can  give  either  heart 
or  hope  to  the  soul,  in  the  face  of  a  law  that 
requires  absolute  perfection,  and  of  a  heaven 
which  admits  nothing  that  defileth. 

Now,  we  come  to  the  point  for  close  self- 
examination.  We  have  seen  that  there  are 
two  extremes,  to  which  we  are  equally  prone. 


EMBLEMS   OF   HOLINESS.  U5 

by  turns ;  sloth  and  self-complacency.  By 
which  of  these  are  we  most  frequently  be- 
trayed ?  If  by  sloth — we  have  most  need  to 
study  the  necessity  of  holiness.  The  con- 
viction, that  without  holiness  we  cannot  see 
the  Lord,  is  very  weak,  if  we  can  relax  in  duty, 
or  leave  the  state  of  our  hearts  to  accident. 
Whenever  we  reckon  it  a  trouble  to  take  pains 
with  our  habits  and  spirit  before  God,  we  are 
upon  the  highway  to  backsliding.  Both  the 
heart  and  the  conscience  are  perverted  in 
no  small  degree,  when  watchfulness  or  effort 
ceases  ;  and  when  either  ceases,  under  any  ex- 
cuse or  pretence  drawn  from  the  grace  of  God, 
it  is  high  time  to  take  alarm  at  ourselves  :  for 
even  our  understanding  is  far  perverted,  if  we 
can  pervert  Grace  into  an  apology  for  idleness 
and  inconsistency.  O  yes  ;  a  blight  has  fallen 
upon  the  eyes  of  our  understanding,  as  well  as 
upon  the  tenderness  of  our  conscience,  if  we 
can  tamper  with  express  law  because  free  Grace 
abounds.  For,  what  convert  did  not  see,  at 
first,  more  in  grace,  than  even  in  law,  to  bind 


116  EMBLEMS    OF    HOLINESS. 

him  to  circumspect  holiness  ?  We  certainly 
saw  nothing  in  the  Cross  or  the  Covenant,  to 
release  us  from  high  moral  obligation  or  ha- 
bitual watchfulness,  when  we  first  looked  to 
them  for  mercy  to  pardon  and  grace  to  help. 
We  intended  and  desired  no  compromise  then, 
.between  God  and  the  world.  If,  therefore,  we 
now  imagine  that  we  see  in  the  Cross  or  the 
Covenant  any  thing  to  warrant  or  wink  at 
what  our  own  conscience  condemns,  our  "  eye 
is  evil :"  for  there  is  neither  sanction  nor  shield 
in  them  to  protect  any  wrong  habit  or  temper. 
They  reign  and  remain  to  crucify  us  to  the 
world,  and  the  world  to  us :  and  therefore  our 
glorying  in  them  is  not  good,  so  far  as  it  ad- 
mits a  compromise  between  sin  and  duty. 

But  neither  strong  nor  startling  assertions, 
however  solemn  and  severe,  will  remedy  this 
evil  effectually.  Warnings,  even  declamations, 
do  not  reach  the  root  of  it.  Many  wlio  can 
say  as  loudly  as  Paul,  that  his  "  damnation 
is  just,  who  sins  because  grace  abounds,"  do 
not  like  Paul  make  the  abounding  of  grace  a 


EMBLEMS    OF    HOLINESS.  H7 

universal  and  daily  reason  for  abounding"  in 
holiness.  They  do  not  venture,  indeed,  to  sin 
or  compromise  upon  a  large  scale,  because 
grace  abounds  ;  but  they  do  some  things,  and 
leave  other  things  undone,  which  they  would 
not,  and  durst  not,  if  grace  did  not  abound.  I 
mean,  that  were  certain  habits  and  tempers 
beyond  the  high-flood  mark  of  the  spring-tides 
of  mercy,  and  known  to  be  unpardonable,  there 
would  be  a  speedy  rush  of  many  from  the  dry 
places  they  now  occupy,  to  the  spot  washed  by 
the  waves  of  pardon.  It  is,  therefore,  by  re- 
garding some  wrong  things  as  not  unsafe  nor 
unpardonable,  that  many  persist  in  them. 
They  would  give  them  up  at  once  and  entirely, 
if  they  deemed  them  fatal,  or  utterly  irrecon- 
cileable  with  a  state  of  grace.  Now  this, 
although  not  exactly  sinning  because  grace 
abounds,  is  very  like  it.  For  if  a  man  do 
what  he  would  not  dare,  if  he  counted  it  un- 
pardonable, it  is  very  evident  that  the  abound- 
ing of  grace,  in  some  way,  is  his  secret  reason, 
although  not  his  assigned  one.  He  does  not, 


118  EMBLEMS    OF    HOLINESS. 

indeed,  say,  "  Let  us  sin"  to  any  extent,  "  be- 
cause grace  abounds ;"  but  he  evidently  thinks, 
or  tries  to  think,  that  he  is  not  actually  and 
altogether  perilling  or  disproving  his  own 
hopes  by  his  own  indulgences.  In  a  word,  he 
-ome  way  of  making  out  to  himself,  that 
his  own  faults  are  not  incompatible  with  being 
really  in  a  state  of  grace  ;  and,  therefore, 
although  he  does  not  exactly  justify  them,  he 
does  not  correct  them,  nor  is  he  much  afraid  of 
them.  "  Grace,"  he  says,  "  has  to  bear  with 
something  wrong,  even  in  the  best :  and  as  my 
besetting  sin  is  not  of  the  very  worst  kind ; 
and  as  there  are  some  sins  I  would  not  commit, 
and  some  duties  I  would  not  neglect,  for 
worlds,  nor  on  any  account  whatever,  I  am 
not  surely  presuming  very  much,  when  I 
reckon  myself  in  a  state  of  grace,  notwith- 
standing all  my  faults."  Thus,  it  is  rather 
some  perverted  notion  about  the  securities  of  a 
state  of  grace,  than  direct  and  determinate  pre- 
sumption upon  the  abounding  of  grace,  that 
betrays  many  into  a  lax  holiness,  or  into  al- 


EMBLEMS    OF   HOLINESS.  119 

lowed  inconsistencies  of  character  and  temper. 
I  do  not,  therefore,  confound  such  persons 
with  those  who  "  turn  the  grace  of  God  into 
licentiousness  ;"  but  I  do  remind  you  and  my- 
self, and  that  with  warning  and  weeping  so- 
lemnity, that  this  was  the  first  step  of  the 
antinomian  process  by  which  the  primitive 
compromisers  became  licentious  apostates  and 
judicial  reprobates.  They  begun  their  unholy 
career  by  trying  to  bend  grace  into  a  shelter 
for  some  one  favourite  sin ;  and,  having  per- 
suaded themselves  that  one  was  not  fatal, 
they  went  on  from  bad  to  worse,  until  they 
drowned  themselves  in  perdition.  At  first 
they  threw  the  cloak  of  Christian  liberty  over 
a  few  faults  ;  by  and  by,  over  many ;  and, 
at  last,  they  made  it  "  a  cloak  for  licentious- 
ness" itself. 

Now  this,  we  not  only  do  not  want  to  do, 
but  we  abhor  it  as  much  as  we  dread  it.     It 
would   be    any    thing  but  gratifying  to  us,  if 
grace  could  be   thus    perverted    with    safety 
What  we  are  inclined  or  tempted  to  wish  for, 


120  EMBLEMS    OF 


is,  such  a  forbearance  or  winking-  at  what  is 
wrong  about  us,  as  shall  allow  our  faults  to  go 
on,  without  exactly  throwing  us  out  of  a  state 
of  grace,  before  we  find  it  convenient  and 
agreeable  to  give  them  up  :  for  we  intend  to 
cruc.  now  try 

.'•use.  V.  and 

1  of 

life,  nor  so  u<  larken  or  embitter 

our  death-bed.  V/hat  a  sho  vield 

now  to  any  thing  we  are  thus  pledged  to  con- 

•  hereafter!  \Vhv.ifo-.  haracter 

ould 

'i  for  another  day.  any  fault  or 
flaw,  wh:  can  cure,  arid  prayer  efface, 

to  remain  9  It  would  cost  us  far  less  trouble 
to  correct  at  once  the  worst  fault  we  have,  than 
it  costs  to  get  over  the  misgivings  of  heart  and 
the  twinges  of  conscience,  which  that  fault 
occasions  in  the  closet  and  at  the  sacrament. 
•;des,  we  have  already  made  greater  sacri- 
fices to  conscience  and  duty,  than  any  we  have 
to  make.  All  our  great  sins  are  given  up  for 


EMBLEMS   OF   HOLINESS!.  121 

erer,  and  willingly  too  :  and  shall  the  little  ones 
hold  us  in  bondage? 

Do  we  feel,  in  the  presence  of  these  expo- 
sures and  remonstrances,  any  inclination  to 
say, — "  Why  this  is  making  grace  as  strict  as 
Law  could  be :  what  then  is  the  advantage 
of  being  under  grace,  instead  of  law,  if  so 
much  circumspection  and  impartiality  be  requi- 

Here  is  the  advantage :  "  sin  then  shall  not 
have  the  dominion  over"  us,  if  we  be  under 
grace :  and  if  we  reckon  this  no  advantage,  we 
do  not  understand  the  Law  well,  nor  Grace 
aught. 

Are  we  half-inclined  to  try  the  •prillou  in 
another  form,  and  to  «ay,  a  Still,  as  something 
wrong  will  remain,  do  whatever  we  may,  why 
not  let  that  fault  remain,  which  we  find  most 
difficult  to  conquer?  Might  tbere  not  come  a 
worse  in  its  place  7* 

I  wrQ  not  call  das  pleading /or  sin.     It  may 


U 


122  EMBLEMS   OF   HOLINESS. 

to  set  aside.  Indeed,  no  Christian  would  dare 
to  vindicate  a  sin,  great  or  small,  by  name. 
He  must  regard  even  his  chief  fault  as  an  in- 
firmity, or  a  weakness,  or  an  imperfection, 
before  he  can  plead  or  apologize  for  it.  As 
sin — he  has  not  a  word  to  say  on  its  behalf. 
You  at  least,  have  not  one. 

Let,  therefore,  the  emblems  of  holiness  which 
the  Holy  Ghost  teaches  by,  suggest  to  you  all 
that  he  intends.  That,  of  course,  will  seem 
more  than  you  can  acquire  ;  but  it  will  enable 
you  to  do  better  than  those  do  who  compare 
themselves  only  with  others.  Scriptural  figures 
are  not  fancies.  "  It  seems  to  the  honour  of  re- 
ligion, that  so  many  things  can,  without  the 
art  of  forcing  resemblances,  be  accommodated 
to  its  illustration.  It  is  an  evident  and  remark- 
able fact,  that  there  is  a  certain  principle  of 
correspondence  to  religion  throughout  the  econ- 
omy of  the  world.  He  that  made  all  things  for 
himself,  appears  to  have  willed  that  they  should 
be  a  great  system  of  EMBLEMS,  reflecting  or 
shadowing  forth  that  system  of  principles  in 


EMBLEMS    OF    t 

which  we  are  to  apprehend  Him  and  our  rela- 
tions and  obligations  to  Him  :  so  that  religion, 
standing  up  in  grand  parallel  to  an  infinity  of 
things,  receives  their  testimony  and  homage, 
and  speaks  with  a  voice  which  is  echoed  by 
creation." — FOSTER.  The  justness  of  these 
profound  and  splendid  remarks  is  almost  self- 
evident  in  the  emblem  of  DEW.  The  history 
of  dew  is  a  figurative  history  of  CONVERSION  ; 
and,  in  its  leading  features,  so  strikingly  similar, 
that  if  dew  had  been  created  for  no  other  pur- 
pose but  to  image  forth  the  "  new  creation,"  it 
could  hardly  be  more  characteristic. 

The  design  of  God  in  establishing  and  point- 
ing out  the  resemblances  between  natural  and 
spiritual  things  is  obvious.  He  thus  places  us 
so,  that,  whether  we  are  in  the  house  or  the 
fields,  we  may  have  before  us  "  lively  oracles" 
of  his  great  salvation  :  at  home,  in  the  Bible  ; 
abroad,  in  nature.  For,  as  prophet  unto  pro- 
phet,  and  apostle  unto  apostle,  so  "  day  unto 
day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night 
teacheth  knowledge,"— there  being  no  voice 


124  EMBLEMS    OF   HOLINESS. 

of  nature  which  does  not  echo  some  voice  of 
Revelation. 

Thus,  the  ORIGIN  of  dew  is  an  emblem  of 
human  society  in  its  natural  state.  The  ori- 
ginal elements  of  dew  are  as  various  in  their 
character,  as  the  diversified  states  in  which 
water  and  moisture  exist  on  the  earth.  Now 
they  exist  in  swamps  and  seas,  in  marshes  and 
meadows,  in  stagnant  pools  and  running 
streams,  in  fetid  plants  and  fragrant  flowers  : 
but  wherever  water  lies  or  lurks,  whether  in 
the  chalice  of  a  rose  or  in  the  recess  of  a  tank, 
it  must  undergo  the  same  change,  and  pass 
from  fluid  to  vapour,  before  it  becomes  dew. 
As  water,  it  cannot,  however  pure  or  polluted, 
ascend  into  the  atmosphere,  nor  refine  itself 
into  dew  :  it  may  undergo  changes  of  taste, 
colour,  and  smell,  according  to  the  channels  it 
lies  in  and  flows  on  ;  but  into  dew  it  will  not 
turn,  until  it  is  exhaled  in  vapour  by  the  sun. 

Now,  the  moral,  like  the  natural  world,  has 
its  putrid  marshes  and  its  pure  streams — its 
calm  lakes  and  its  stormy  oceans ;  for  although 


EMBLEMS  OF    HOLINESS.  125 

no  class  of  mankind  is  naturally  holy,  some 
classes  are  comparatively  pure,  and  others 
grossly  vile.  There  are,  in  society,  the  decent 
and  the  indelicate,  the  humane  and  the  cruel, 
the  cool  and  the  passionate,  the  upright  and 

the    dishonest.     These    distinctions    between 

^ 

man  and  man  are  as  visible  as  those  of  land 
and  water  on  the  globe,  and  as  real  as  the  dif- 
ference between  spring  and  pit  water.  But  no 
natural  amiableness  of  disposition,  nor  any 
acquired  refinement  of  character,  amounts  to 
"  true  holiness."  The  best,  in  common  with 
the  worst,  "  must  be  born  again"  before  they 
can  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  :  for,  as 
water,  in  its  purest  state,  must  be  exhaled 
into  vapour  before  it  can  be  transmuted  into 
dew,  so  both  the  moral  and  the  immoral  must 
be  regenerated  before  they  can  enter  heaven. 
Education  may  purify  the  manners,  but  only 
faith  can  purify  the  heart :  love  of  character  may 
secure  external  decorum,  but  only  the  love  of 
Christ  can  secure  internal  holiness.  Thus  fai 
the  resemblance  holds  good. 


126  EMBLEMS    OP    HOLINESS. 

Again ;  the  agency  by  which  dew  is  pro- 
duced from  all  the  varieties  of  water,  is  an  em- 
blem of  that  spiritual  agency  by  which  the 
varieties  of  human  character  are  transformed 
into  the  Divine  image.  Now,  the  sun  is  the 
grand  agent  in  the  natural  world,  by  which 
portions  of  all  waters  are  changed  into  vapour. 
His  heat,  operating  on  their  surface,  produces 
exhalations  wherever  it  touches,  drawing  va- 
pour from  the  wide  expanse  of  the  ocean  and 
from  the  weedy  pool ;  from  the  brakish  river 
and  from  the  sweet  brook.  And  the  sun  is  the 
only  luminary  of  heaven  that  exhales  the 
waters.  The  moon  regulates  their  tides,  and 
the  stars  irradiate  their  surface  ;  but  the  united 
rays  of  both  are  insufficient  to  evaporate  in- 
gredients for  a  single  dew  drop.  It  is  the  sun 
which  draws  from  the  earth,  into  the  atmo- 
sphere, the  elements  of  this  beautiful  fluid  :  in 
like  manner,  it  is  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness" 
alone  that  draws  sinners  from  the  fearful  pit  of 
the  curse,  and  from  the  miry  clay  of  corruption. 
The  attractive  influence  of  his  CROSS  is  to  us 


EMBLEMS    OP    HOLINESS.  127 

what  the  heat  of  the  sun  is  to  the  moisture  of 
the  earth — the  only  drawing  power.  Other 
doctrines  may,  like  the  moon,  produce  regulai 
tides  of  formal  worship,  and,  like  the  stars, 
brighten  the  surface  of  the  character ;  but 
they  shine  too  cold  to  regenerate  the  heart  or 
purify  the  conscience.  Thus,  ARIANISM,  al- 
though it  shone  in  the  brightness  of  learning 
and  ethics  during  the  last  century,  had  no 
spiritual  attraction :  it  drew  small  numbers 
from  the  Church  to  the  Meeting ;  but  none 
from  the  world  to  God — as  the  God  of  salva- 
tion. SOCINIANISM  also  has,  of  late,  shone  in 
the  heat  of  proselyting  zeal ;  but  the  only  effect 
is,  that  some  of  the  young,  who  formerly  cared 
nothing  about  religion,  are  become  flippant 
speculators,  and  many  of  the  speculators 
masked  Deists.  It  is  notorious  that  the  sys- 
tem has  made  the  young  "  heady  and  high- 
minded,"  and  the  old  callous.  Many  of  both 
are,  indeed,  intelligent  and  upright ;  but  these 
were  so  before  they  embraced  the  system,  and 
would  be  what  they  are  under  any  moral 


128  EMBLEMS   OP   HOLINESS. 

system,  while  their  local  and  relative  circum- 
stances continue  the  same.  And  what  have 
the  classically  elegant  lectures  on  morals, 
which  sound  from  so  many  pulpits,  done  for 
the  young  or  old  ?  Except  maintaining  a 
routine  of  formal  worship,  and  raising  an  ig- 
norant clamour  against  evangelical  truth,  they 
have  left  parishes  and  districts  as  they  found 
them — locked  up  in  the  icebergs  of  apathy  and 
self-delusion.  And  such  must  ever  be  the  ef- 
fects of  legal  preaching,  because  it  is  not  God's 
appointment  for  winning  souls.  He  no  more 
intends  to  save  sinners  by  the  law,  than  to 
evaporate  the  waters  by  the  moon  or  the  stars. 
The  law,  like  these  luminaries,  is  a  light  to  our 
feet  in  "  the  new  and  living  way  ;"  but  only  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness,  shining  in  the  Gospel, 
can  draw  us  into  that  way.  "  The  dew  of  his 
youth"  can  only  be  formed  by  his  own  influ- 
ence. Thus  far,  also,  the  parallel  is  just. 

Again ;  the  secret  process  by  which  the  ex- 
haled vapours  are  turned  into  dew,  is  an 
emblem  of  that  Divine  operation  by  which  the 


EMBLEMS    OF   HOLINESS.  129 

Holy  Spirit  makes  sinners  u  new  creatures  in 
Christ  Jesus."  The  precise  agent  in  nature, 
by  which  vapour  is  condensed  into  dew,  is  not 
known  :  whether  it  is  by  cold  or  by  electricity, 
or  by  both,  is  still  as  much  a  mystery  as  when 
God  asked  Job  from  the  whirlwind,  "  Who 
hath  begotten  the  drops  of  dew?"  In  like 
manner,  although  we  know  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  agent  who  changes  the  heart, 
by  making  the  Gospel  power  unto  salvation, 
we  are  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  his  operations. 
Whether  they  are  partly  physical,  or  wholly 
moral,  is  unknown.  "  The  wind  bloweth 
where  it  listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound 
thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh, 
or  whither  it  goeth :  so  is  every  one  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit."  But  we  do  know  what  is 
much  better — that  his  sacred  influences  are  in- 
separably connected  with  the  conscientious  use 
of  the  means  of  grace,  and  forthcoming  in  an- 
swer to  serious  prayer.  This  we  know  ;  that 
as  water  exposed  to  the  sun  will  be  evaporated 
in  part,  and  water  excluded  from  the  sun  will 


13t)  EMBLEMS   OF   HOLINESS, 

never  become  dew ;  so  we  may  expect  Divine 
influence  in  the  use  of  divinely  appointed 
means,  and  can  look  for  none  if  they  are  neg- 
lected. 

Again ;  the  similarity  of  dewdrops  in  pure- 
ness  and  beauty,  although  formed  from  all  the 
varieties  of  vapour,  is  a  fine  emblem  of  that 
uniform  spirit  which  characterizes  the  diversified 
classes  of  mankind,  who  are  brought  to  believe 
on  Christ  for  salvation.  There  is  what  may 
be  called  a  family  likeness  prevailing  through- 
out the  dewdrops  of  the  morning.  They  dif- 
fer in  size  ;  but  they  are  all  transparent,  ten- 
der, and  pure.  This  is  the  more  remarkable, 
seeing  their  original  elements  were  so  differ- 
ent :  part  of  the  vapour  was  drawn  from  the 
briny  deep,  and  part  from  the  putrid  fens  ; 
portions  of  it  from  the  slimy  pool,  and  por- 
tions from  the  steaming  surfs.  Now,  that 
the  exhalations  from  springs  and  rivulets,  from 
the  herbs  of  the  field  and  the  flowers  of  the 
garden,  should  return  to  the  earth  in  sweet 
dews,  is  not  surprising :  but  that  the  gross  and 


EMBLEMS    OF   HOLINESS.  131 

tainted  vapours  should  return  sweet  and  pure 
is  wonderful !  And  yet  all  this  is  realized  under 
the  gospel.  The  sinner  drawn  from  the  very 
dregs  of  society,  and  the  sinner  drawn  from  a 
respectable  family — the  convert  from  sensu- 
ality, and  the  convert  from  intellectual  pride — 
the  wanderer  returning  from  vice,  and  the 
wanderer  renouncing  vanity — become  alike  in 
their  leading  views,,  principles,  and  feelings  : 
they  build  their  hopes  on  the  same  foundation, 
ascribe  their  escape  to  the  same  grace,  and  aim 
at  the  same  kind  and  degree  of  holiness, 
"  Whosoever"  hath  the  hope  of  eternal  life 
"  in  Christ,"  "  purifieth  himself,"  even  as 
Christ  is  pure.  Converts  differ,  indeed,  in  the 
degree  of  their  knowledge,  gifts,  and  graces — 
as  the  dewdrops  in  their  size ;  but,  like  them, 
they  are  all  partakers  of  a  new  nature,  and 
each  compared  with  what  he  was  before  con- 
version, "  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Again ;  the  refreshing  and  fertilizing  influ- 
ence of  the  dew  is  a  fine  emblem  of  the  salutary 
influence  of  converts  in  their  respective  fami- 


132  EMBLEMS    OF   HOLINESH. 

lies  and  spheres.  The  dew  cools  the  sultry  air, 
revives  the  parched  herbage  of  the  earth,  and 
bathes  the  whole  landscape  in  renovated 
beauty  :  and,  in  like  manner,  holy  families  are 
harmonious — holy  churches  tranquil.  Even 
an  individual  convert  is  not  without  a  portion 
of  sweet  influence  in  his  circle  ;  the  change  in 
his  character  and  spirit  suggests  to  others  the 
necessity  and  the  possibility  of  being  changed 
too ;  and  thus  "  they  that  dwell  under  his 
shadow  revive  as  the  corn,  and  grow  as  the 
vine."  His  example  distils  as  dew  upon  the  ten- 
der herb,  quickening  the  formal  to  the  power  of 
godliness,  and  awakening  the  careless  to  con- 
sideration. Thus  the  pious  are  the  salt  of  the 
earth.  The  absence  of  dew  would  not  be  more 
fatal  to  the  natural  world,  than  the  want  of 
converts  to  the  moral  world.  Were  they  with- 
drawn, or  were  their  succession  to  cease,  even 
the  general  morality  of  society  would  wither 
and  sink  far  below  its  present  standard  and 
strength. 

Again ;     the    dew  is   regularly   drawn    up 


EMBLEMS    OF    HOLINESS.  133 

again  by  the  sun,  when  it  has  refreshed  the 
earth ;  and  is  thus  a  fine  emblem  of  the  first 
resurrection,  when  all  the  saints  shall  ascend 
to  meet  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  in  the  air. 
No  scene  of  nature  is  more  lovely  than  a  sum- 
mer landscape  at  sunrise,  when  every  field, 
grove,  and  hedge  is  spangled  with  morning 
dew.  The  drops  seem  to  sparkle  with  con- 
scious delight  at  the  approach  of  the  sun — 
climbing,  as  he  ascends,  to  the  top  of  every 
leaf,  as  if  impatient  to  meet  him  in  the  air. 
Every  admirer  of  nature  has  noticed  this  scene, 
and  watched  the  dewy  vapour  rising  like  in- 
cense from  the  golden  censer  of  summer.  Who 
has  not  gazed  with  rapture  on  the  glowing 
myriads  of  dewdrops,  when  each  of  them  is  a 
miniature  of  the  sun  which  gilds  them  ?  And, 
when  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shall  arise  on 
the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  the  heirs  of 
glory  will  be  as  numerous  and  beautiful  as  the 
dew  from  the  womb  of  the  morning — all  in  the 
beauty  of  holiness  ;  for  they  "  shall  be  like 
Him,  when  they  see  him  as  he  is." 
12 


No.  IV. 

A  MATRON'S  TIMIDITY  EXPLAINED. 

PERFECT  conformity  to  the  Divine  image 
exists  only  in  the  Divine  presence !  Only  those 
who  see  God  face  to  face,  are  holy  as  God  is 
holy.  Until  we  see  Him  as  He  actually  is,  we 
cannot  be  fully  like  him.  Nothing  but  "  open 
vision"  can  produce  an  entire  moral  resemblance 
between  our  spirit  and  the  Father  of  spirits. 
They  little  know  what  perfection  means,  who 
imagine  that  they  are  "  already  perfect-"  Those, 
however,  are  quite  as  ignorant,  and  more  cri- 
minal, who  are  not  trying  to  perfect  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God.  They  are  certainly  very  weak 
in  intellect,  who  reckon  themselves  spotless  in 
heart  or  character :  but  they  are  weaker  in  con- 
science and  in  all  principle,  who  are  content  to 
be  imperfect,  or  not  much  concerned  to  keep 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  135 

themselves  unspotted  from  the  world.  And, 
alas,  there  are  far  mare  of  the  latter  class,  than 
of  the  former.  The  visionaries  of  Perfection 
are  but  few  in  numbers,  and  small  in  influence : 
whereas,  the  trucklers  to  allowed  and  needless 
Imperfection,  are  many  and  mighty.  The  name 
of  the  Inconsistent  is  "  Legion." 

How  do  we  feel,  when  we  say  to  ourselves, 
or  when  it  is  proved  to  us  from  Scripture  and 
Experience,  "  that  perfection  is  impossible  out 
of  Heaven  ?"  Are  we  glad  to  hear  this  ?  Is  it 
good  news  to  us  ?  We  make  a  very  bad  use  of 
it,  if  we  employ  the  fact  to  excuse  our  besetting 
sin,  or  to  exempt  us  from  the  trouble  of  watch- 
fulness and  self-denial.  It  was  never  revealed 
by  God,  nor  avowed  by  His  ministers,  for  this 
unholy  purpose.  God  declared  it,  and  Prophets 
and  Apostles  confessed  it,  in  order  that  con- 
scious Imperfection  might  not  drive  the  follow- 
ers of  Holiness  to  despair.  The  talkers  about 
holiness  do  not  need  the  fact,  although  they  use 
it.  Their  imperfection,  as  they  call  it,  neither 
alarms  nor  humbles  them.  They  are  on  very 


136  A  MATRON'S 

good  terms  with  what  is  bad  in  their  habits . 
indeed,  quite  in  love  with  the  sin  that  most 
easily  besets  them.  It  would  be  no  gratifica- 
tion to  them,  to  be  redeemed  from  its  present 
power.  They  intend,  of  course,  to  give  it  up 
some  time,  and  in  time  enough  (as  they  think) 
to  leave  it  still  pardonable,  or  not  fatal :  but,  like 
Augustine,  "  not  now." 

Not  thus  lightly,  however,  do  sins  or  short- 
comings sit  upon  the  conscience,  or  affect  the 
hopes,  of  godly  women.  They  have  to  prove 
their  faith  by  their  works ;  to  confirm  their 
hopes  by  their  holiness  ;  to  make  their  calling 
and  election  sure,  by  a  growing  likeness  to 
Him,  to  whose  image  Believers  are  "  predesti- 
nated to  be  conformed."  To  them,  therefore, 
it  is  both  a  solemn  and  startling  matter,  to 
miss  some  features  of  the  Divine  image  in  their 
character  ;  and  others  in  their  spirit ;  and  to 
find  all  the  features  of  that  image  so  indistinct 
and  unsettled !  This  discovery  causes  in  them 
great  searchings  and  sinkings  of  heart  before 
God.  Indeed,  something  of  both  continues 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  137 

with  a  Christian  through  life.  She  is  never 
fully  "satisfied"  with  her  own  piety.  Like 
David,  she  never  can  be  satisfied  with  herself, 
until  she  awake  in  heaven  in  all  the  beauties 
of  that  holiness,  which  is  the  express  moral 
image  of  God. 

This  is  one  great  characteristic  of  a  real 
Christian :  she  never  is,  and  never  can  be, 
quite  satisfied  with  the  degree  of  her  own  piety. 
She  may,  indeed,  be  quite  satisfied  that  it  is  of 
the  right  kind,  both  as  to  its  principles  and  spirit, 
so  far  as  it  goes  :  but  she  never  thinks  that  it 
has  gone  far  enough.  She  may  have  no  doubt 
of  its  sincerity  towards  God,  nor  of  its  salutary 
influence  over  herself  and  her  family,  nor  of  its 
usefulness  in  her  sphere  of  action  :  but  still,  it 
comes  short  of  her  wishes,  and  even  fills  her 
with  shame  and  sorrow.  She  is  not  satisfied 
with  herself,  whoever  else  may  approve  or  ap- 
plaud her.  Indeed,  nothing  humbles  her  more 
than  compliments  from  others.  Not  that  she  is 
indifferent  to  the  good  opinion  of  othei&  :  but 
she  feels  that  if  they  knew  her  heart  as  she 
12* 


138  A  MATRON'S 

knows  it,  they  would  not  think  so  highly  of  her. 
For  she  is  conscious  of  coldness,  where  they 
see  nothing  but  warmth ;  of  ignorance,  where 
they  recognise  wisdom  :  of  earthly-mindedness, 
where  they  acknowledge  spirituality  andheaven- 
ly-mindedness.  Like  Paul,  a  real  Christian 
woman  feels  herself  "  less  than  the  least  of  all 
saints,"  even  when  she  stands  highest  in  public 
estimation. 

Were  this  fact  well  understood,  as  being 
characteristic  of  true  piety,  it  would  prevent 
many  Christians  from  unchristianizing  them- 
selves so  often  as  they  do.  They  imagine,  be- 
cause they  are  so  dissatisfied  with  themselves, 
that  the  satisfaction  which  others  express,  is 
more  from  kindness  than  wisdom,  or  rather 
friendly  than  prudent.  They  wish  to  think 
themselves  as  sincere,  right,  and  safe  as  their 
friends  say ;  but  they  are  afraid  to  conclude 
that  they  really  are  so.  "  Should  I  not  have  the 
witness  in  myself,  if  I  were,  indeed,  a  child  of 
God  1"  is  their  answer  to  many  a  prayer  and 
appeal  which  treats  them  as  daughters  of  the 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  139 

Lord  God  Almighty.  "  Your  arguments  may 
be  very  true  in  your  own  case  and  in  that  of 
others,"  they  say ;  "  but  you  cannot  argue  me 
out  of  my  own  feelings,  nor  persuade  me  against 
my  own  consciousness.  I  am  not  satisfied 
with  either  my  faith  or  my  repentance  ;  my 
prayers  or  experience  :  and  for  this  solid  reason ; 
— I  see  so  much  in  my  heart  that  is  bad,  and 
so  little  in  my  life  that  really  glorifies  God, 
that  I  can  hardly  conceive  how  there  could  be 
any  grace  where  there  is  so  much  coldness  and 
deadness.  ;<  0  wretched  that  I  am,  who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  /" 

This  self-dissatisfaction  is,  however,  a  very 
satisfactory  proof  of  real  piety,  in  all  cases 
where  a  real  effort  is  made  to  be  holy  in  heart 
and  life.  There  is  no  great  effort  to  be  so, 
wherever  there  is  self-satisfaction.  Those  who, 
like  the  Laodiceans,  are  pleased  with  them- 
selves, are,  like  them,  an  "  abomination"  unto 
the  Lord.  They  both  thought  and  said,  that 
they  had  u  need  of  nothing."  They  took  for 
granted,  that  they  were  enlightened  enough, 


140  A  MATRON'S 

clothed  enough,  and  enriched  enough,  to  be 
quite  safe,  or  on  the  right  side  for  Eternity. 
But,  what  did  Christ  say  to  them  ?  "  Thou 
art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and 
blind,  and  naked."  Thus  the  men  who  imagined 
that  they  had  need  of  nothing,  were  found 
wanting  in  every  thing,  when  weighed  in  the 
balance  of  the  Sanctuary,  by  the  Saviour  of 
the  Church. 

Here  is  the  awful  consequence  of  calculating 
how  little  piety  will  just  suffice  for  safety  at 
last.  The  Laodiceans  seem  to  have  reckoned 
to  a  fraction,  how  little  would  do.  Their 
question  had  evidently  been,  not  how  much 
God  required,  nor  how  much  they  could  culti- 
vate, nor  what  would  be  the  advantage  of  emi- 
nent piety :  but  just,  how  much  is  absolutely 
needed,  in  order  to  any  chance  of  escape  at 
last  ?  And  whenever  a  woman  comes  to  reckon 
in  this  way,  she  is  sure  to  let  nothing  into  her 
list  of  duties  or  graces,  which  she  can  keep  out. 
The  moment  she  is  so  infatuated  by  sloth  or 
worldliness,  as  to  drive  a  bargain  in  religion, 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  141 

she  will  drive  a  hard  bargain  with  it ;  and  thus 
cheat  herself  to  a  certainty,  whilst  trying  to 
cheat  it.  This  is  inevitable,  whenever  a  woman 
tampers  with  the  question, — where  can  I  stop 
with  safety  in  the  path  of  holiness  ?  She  is 
sure  to  stop  wherever  she  dislikes  to  go,  and 
to  make  her  own  convenience  limit  the  mean- 
ing of  God's  requirements. 

Now  although  there  may  be  both  some 
weakness  and  waywardness  in  the  spirit  of 
those  Christians,  who  give  way  to  doubts  and 
fears,  and  who  "  write  bitter  things"  against 
themselves,  whenever  they  do  not  feel  as  they 
wish,  still,  their  spirit  is  noble  and  wise,  com- 
pared with  the  spirit  of  the  woman,  who  cares 
nothing  about  how  she  feels  or  acts  in  religion, 
if  she  can  only  keep  down  the  fear  of  perishing. 
There  is  no  comparison  :  it  is  all  contrast,  be- 
tween a  doubting  Christian,  and  a  heedless  or 
heartless  professor. 

In  saying  this,  however,  nothing  is  farther 
from  my  design,  than  vindicating  or  even  pal- 
liating the  habit  of  doubting.  It  is  a  bad 


142  A  MATRON'S 

habit ;  although  infinitely  a  better  one  than  the 
habit  of  taking  for  granted  that  all  is  right 
before  God,  when  there  is  nothing  flagrantly 
wrong  before  men.  Still,  it  is  bad :  and  in 
this  way.  It  tempts  some  who  witness  it  to 
doubt  the  power  of  the  Gospel  ;  or  the  truth 
of  the  promises ;  or  the  freeness  of  grace. 
The  doubting  Christian  herself,  does  not  ques- 
tion these  things.  All  her  misgivings  of  heart 
arise  from  what  she  thinks  and  feels  herself  to 
be  :  and  not  from  any  suspicion  of  the  freeness 
or  power  of  the  grace  of  God.  This  distinction 
is  not,  however,  noticed  by  all  observers.  Some 
look  only  on  the  surface  of  such  a  case  ;  and, 
when  they  see  a  serious  and  consistent  woman, 
without  comfort,  and  almost  without  hope  at 
times,  they  strongly  suspect,  either  that  the  Gos- 
pel is  not  such  good  news  as  Ministers  say,  or 
that  prayer  is  not  so  surely  answered  as  the 
Promises  seem  to  imply.  Accordingly,  when 
recent  converts  see  cases  of  this  kind,  they  are 
tempted  to  doubt  whether  they  may  not  pray 
in  vain  too,  or  strive  to  no  purpose.  Those, 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  143 

again,  who  want  an  excuse  for  neglecting 
prayer,  or  for  remaining  undecided,  seize  upon 
such  cases  with  avidity,  and  pretend  to  be  dis- 
couraged by  them,  or  warranted  from  them  to 
doubt  whether  religion  is  enjoyment. 

Now  to  both  classes  I  would  say,  you  are 
equally  wrong,  in  the  conclusions  you  thus 
draw  from  the  sadness  and  suspense  of  weak 
Believers,  They  may  seem  to  have  no  enjoy- 
ment in  religion,  and  may  even  say  that  they 
find  no  comfort :  but,  ask  them  to  give  up  reli- 
gion, for  the  pleasures  of  sin  ;  propose  to  them 
a  return  to  the  world  for  happiness  ;  offer  to 
them  the  sweetest  cup  of  earthly  enjoyment, 
in  exchange  for  that  cup  of  salvation,  which 
they  hold  in  their  hand  without  venturing  to 
drink  freely  of  the  living  water ; — will  they 
make  the  exchange,  or  even  listen  with  pa- 
tience to  the  proposal?  No  indeed.  They 
will  tell  you  at  once,  that  however  unhappy 
they  may  feel,  they  would  be  miserable,  yea, 
unspeakably  wretched,  were  they  to  take  up 
with  any  earthly  portion  whatever.  Not  for 


144  A  MATRON'S 

ten  thousand  worlds,  would  they  turn  their 
back  upon  the  Saviour  or  Holiness. 

And,  is  there  no  grace  in  this  state  of  mind? 
Has  prayer  been  unanswered,  where  the  heart 
thus  prefers  to  follow  Christ  even  in  darkness, 
rather  than  forsake  him  for  the  things  of  time 
or  sense  ?  Yea,  is  there  not  enjoyment,  or,  at 
.  cause  for  comfort,  in  a  state  of  mind 
which  thus  prefers  the  Divine  favour  and  image, 
world  calls  good  or  great  ?  For, 
what  but  grace, — special,  saving,  sanctifying 
grace,  could  have  wrought  this  change  in  the 
natural  spirit  of  the  mind,  which  is  of  the  earth, 
eartlr  i  doubting  Christians  reason  in 

this  WHY  on  their  own  case,  they  could  not 
long  doubt  the  reality  of  their  conversion. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  thing  which  proves  that 
a  saving  work  of  grace  has  been  begun  in 
them,  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  sad  light  in 
which  they  see  themselves,  arises  from  the  true 
light  in  which  they  see  the  character  of  God 
Had  they  seen  less  of  His  glory,  they  would 
be  less  ashamed  of  themselves.  It  is  because 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  145 

His  character  is  much  before  their  minds,  that 
their  own  character  stands  so  low  in  their  esti- 
mation. Were  they  only  comparing  themselves 
with  others,  or  their  present  selves  with  their 
former  selves,  they  would  be  more  satisfied 
with  themselves :  but  they  are  contrasting 
themselves  with  infinite  purity ;  with  perfect 
excellence  ;  with  unchangeable  holiness  :  and 
this  process  of  judging,  just  produces  the  same 
effect  upon  them,  which  it  had  upon  Patriarchs, 
Prophets,  and  Apostles. 

Doubting  Christians  overlook  this  fact,  and 
in  the  hurry  and  flutter  of  the  moment,  forget 
that  the  most  eminent  saints  of  old,  had  exactly 
the  same  opinion  of  themselves,  whenever 
they  had  the  same  clear  and  solemn  views  of 
the  glorious  majesty  of  Jehovah.  Who  said, 
when  his  eyes  saw  the  true  character  of  God, 
"  /  abhor  myself?"  It  was  Job.  Who  said, 
when  he  saw  the  glory  of  God  in  the  Temple, 
"  Wo  is  me,  I  am  undone  .?"  It  was  Isaiah. 
Who  fell  at  the  Saviour's  feet  as  dead,  when  he 
bowed  the  heavens  over  Patmos,  and  appeared 
13 


146  A  MATRON'S 

in  his  original  glory  ?  It  was  John,  the  disciple 
whom  Jesus  loved.  Who  said,  "  So  foolish 
and  ignorant  was  I :.  I  was  as  a  beast  before 
thee  ?M  when  he  understood  that  the  prosperity 
of  the  wicked  was  no  token  of  the  Divine  favour, 
nor  the  trials  of  the  righteous  any  impeachment 
of  the  wisdom  or  the  equity  of  Providence  ?  It 
was  Asaph. 

And,  were  these  men  not  true  believers,  be- 
cause thus  overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  their 
own  vileness  and  unworthiness  ?  Why  ;  it  was 
their  high  and  holy  views  of  God  and  the 
Lamb,  that  laid  them  thus  low  in  their  own 
estimation.  "  No  strange  thing,"  therefore, 
has  happened,  when  even  some  exemplary 
Christians  are  thus  troubled,  when  they  think 
of  God.  In  such  cases,  He  has  manifested 
himself  unto  them,  not  only  as  he  does  not 
unto  the  world,  but  also  differently  from  the 
manifestation  of  his  presence  to  other  Christians. 
I  mean,  that  God  brings  that  view  of  his  own 
character  before  the  mind  of  each  of  his  children 
which  is  best  suited  to  each  of  them.  Some 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  147 

<;ould  not  bear  to  see  much  of  His  glorious 
majesty;  and,  therefore,  God  manifests  him- 
self to  them,  chiefly  as  a  tender  Father  and  a 
watchful  Shepherd.  Others  again  cannot  bear 
indulgence,  without  presuming  upon  it,  or 
being  betrayed  by  it  into  some  wrong  spirit ; 
and  He  keeps  them  low  and  fearful,  that  they 
may  be  humble  and  watchful.  But  there  is 
not  less  paternal  love  in  the  one  case  than  in 
the  other.  He  is  equally  training  both  for 
Heaven,  although  each  by  a  different  process 
of  fatherly  discipline. 

You,  therefore,  if  rather  cheered  on  in  the 
path  of  holiness  by  the  soft  light  of  God's  coun- 
tenance, than  kept  in  check  from  the  broad  way 
by  awful  views  of  God,  have  no  occasion  to 
suspect  your  piety  because  your  spirit  is  not 
overwhelmed.  And  you  have  as  little  reason 
to  suspect  your  conversion,  if,  at  times,  almost 
convulsed  by  your  awful  views  of  God,  and  of 
yourself  before  God.  The  question  is — does 
the  light  in  which  He  chiefly  manifests  himself 
to  you,  keep  you  afraid  of  sin,  jealous  of  the 


148  A  MATRON'S 

world,  and  conscientious  in  the  duties  of  life 
and  godliness  ?  That  is  the  best  light  for  you, 
— which  keeps  you  walking  most  humbly  and 
circumspectly  with  God.  And  whether  the 
light  be  lovely  or  solemn,  it  will  keep  you 
dissatisfied  with  yourself,  until  you  awake  in 
the  image  of  God. 

Another  cause  why  some  Christians  are  so 
low  in  spirits  and  hope,  is,  that  their  sense  of 
the  greatness  of  the  great  salvation  is  more 
than  usually  vivid.  That  salvation  spreads 
out  before  them  in  such  vastness  of  grace  and 
glory,  that  they  sink  into  nothing  before  its 
august  presence.  They  can  hardly  imagine 
that  it  can  be  free  to  them.  They  see  nothing 
in  any  of  their  own  feelings  towards  "  so  great 
salvation,"  at  all  great  enough  or  good  enough 
to  prove  that  they  truly  value  it.  They  find 
it  impossible  to  bring  up  their  love  or  faith,  to 
a  height  worthy  of  its  unspeakable  worth. 
Thus  they  lose  sight  of  its  freeness,  by  looking 
so  often  and  closely  to  its  grandeur. 

But  are  they  unbelievers,  because  they  are 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  149 

afraid  to  hope  for  a  salvation  which  they  thus 
admire  and  adore  ?  There  is,  indeed,  unbelief, 
in  not  venturing  to  hope  as  freely  as  they 
wonder  deeply :  but  it  is  not  the  unbelief  of 
indifference,  nor  of  neglect,  nor  of  formality. 
It  is  not  the  unbelief  of  the  natural  mind,  nor 
of  impenitence.  It  is  humility  sliding  into 
hesitation.  It  is  diffidence  sliding  into  timidity. 

For,  who  gave  the  doubting  Christians  such 
lofty  and  adoring  views  of  the  value  of  the 
great  salvation  ?  Whence  came  the  light  which 
has  so  revealed  and  irradiated  to  them,  the 
heights  and  depths,  the  lengths  and  breadths 
of  the  love  of  Christ,  that  they  feel  as  if 
nothing  less  than  angelic  love  to  Him  could  be 
acceptable  love  ;  or  as  if  nothing  short  of 
Abraham's  faith  could  be  true  faith  ? 

I  am  not  advocating  nor  excusing  these 
doubts  and  fears  :  but  I  am,  and  I  avow  it, 
maintaining  that  their  minds  are  not  in  nature's 
darkness,  who  thus  see  the  glory  of  salvation : 
that  their  hearts  are  not  in  sin's  or  the  world's 
bondage,  who  thus  revere  the  great  salvation 
13* 


150  A  MATRON'S 

that  their  spirit  is  not  untouched  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  who  thus  hesitate  because  they  think 
nothing  good  enough  as  a  welcome  to  that  sal- 
vation. 

I  have  no  doubt  of  their  piety  or  safety ; 
but  I  do  stand  in  doubt  of  the  woman  who  is 
satisfied  with  either  her  faith  or  love  towards 
so  great  salvation.  It  must  seem  but  very  little 
to  the  woman  who  sees  enough  in  her  own 
feelings  and  character  to  do  justice  to  all  its 
claims.  Again,  therefore,  I  affirm,  that  a  real 
Christian  cannot  be  satisfied  with  herself,  until 
she  awake  in  the  image  of  God. 

Another  cause  of  that  dissatisfaction  with 
themselves,  which  keeps  the  hopes  and  hearts 
of  some  Christians  very  low,  is,  their  high  and 
holy  estimate  of  the  work  and  witness  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  His  agency,  or  influence,  means 
so  much  in  their  judgment,  that  they  cannot 
think  how  any  thing  they  have  felt,  or  are 
capable  of  feeling,  could  amount  to  being 
"  born  again  of  the  Spirit."  Indeed,  it  is 
only  by  ascribing  and  giving  credit  to  others, 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  151 

for  more  fruits  of  the  Spirit  than  others  pos- 
sess, that  such  persons  can  admit  that  any 
change  is  a  Divine  change.  They  believe  that 
other  Christians  are  much  holier  than  they 
seem ;  and  thus  account  for  their  being  happier 
than  themselves. 

Now,  although  there  is  some  mistake  in  all 
this,  the  error  is  on  the  safe  side.  Better  rate 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  too  high  than  too 
low.  Better  hesitate  to  call  any  ordinary 
change  Divine,  than  call  every  moral  improve- 
ment regeneration,  or  every  conviction  con- 
version. But  there  is  no  occasion  for  thus 
going  to  either  extreme.  Neither  the  work 
nor  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  is  a  doubtful 
thing,  wherever  there  is  humility  before  God, 
and  an  honest  desire  to  be  like  God.  These 
are  principles  which  can  neither  be  taught  nor 
learned  without  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  are 
not  natural,  and  they  are  never  acquired  by 
mere  human  effort.  Indeed,  no  one  tries  or 
wishes  to  be  truly  humble  before  God,  until 
the  Spirit  of  God  touch  the  heart. 


152  A  MATRON'S 

Let  not,  therefore,  the  timidity,  nor  even 
the  trembling,  the  doubts  nor  the  fears,  of 
some  "  holy  women,"  dishearten  you,  or  draw 
you  into  suspicions  of  the  efficacy  of  the 
Gospel  to  console  as  well  as  to  sanctify.  It 
can  do  both  equally.  Its  promises  have  only 
to  be  as  simply  welcomed  by  your  doubting 
friends,  as  its  precepts  ore  meekly  obeyed  by 
them,  in  order  to  their  being  as  happy  as  they 
tire  humble.  Sheshbazzar  would  say  to  each 
of  them  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?  Shake 
the  mulberry  trees  in  the  valley  of  Baca ;  and 
make  it  a  well ;  and  thus  go  from  strength  to 
strength,  until  you  appear  before  God  in 
Zion." 


The  IOM  HACCHIPURIM,  the  great  day  of 
Atonement,  was  drawing  nigh ;  and,  from 
Dan  to  Beersheba,  the  Israelites  were  prepar- 
ing to  appear  before  God  in  Zion.  "  The 
songs  of  Degrees1'  were  reviewed  in  every 
family,  that  they  might  be  repeated  and  sung 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  153 

in  the  wilderness ;  and  every  man  that  was 
right-hearted  said,  "  I  was  glad  when  they  said 
unto  me,  Let  us  go  into  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
Our  feet  shall  stand  within  thy  gates,  O  Jeru- 
salem !" 

Amongst  those  who  waited  for  the  "  Conso- 
lation of  Israel,"  none  in  Beersheba  had  ap- 
peared in  Zion  so  often  as  Sheshbazzar.  From 
year  to  year  he  had  cheered  the  aged,  and 
charmed  the  young,  on  their  pilgrimage.  His 
proverbs  met  all  cases,  and  his  smiles  or 
tears  suited  all  hearts.  He  wept  with  the 
weeping,  and  rejoiced  with  the  joyful.  And 
yet,  Sheshbazzar  was  a  man  that  had  seen 
affliction.  The  Angel  of  Death  had  said  twice 
"  Write  that  man  a  widower ;"  and  the  "  de- 
sire of  his  eyes"  was  taken  away  at  a  stroke. 
The  Angel  of  Death  stood  on  the  tomb  of  his 
grief,  and  said  again,  "  Write  that  man  child- 
less ;"  and  it  was  done.  His  heart  bled,  but  it 
never  murmured.  He  said  that  each  loss  had 
become  a  new  link  between  his  heart  and  hea- 
ven ;  and  that  now,  like  the  High  Priesit's 


154  A  MATRON'S 

breast-plate,  it  was  so  linked,  all  around,  that 
it  could  not  fall.  The  young  wondered,  and 
the  aged  blessed  the  God  of  Israel,  who  gave 
consolation  in  trouble,  "  and  songs  in  the  night." 

His  fellow-pilgrims  regarded  him  as  almost 
a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day,  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by 
night,  whilst  journeying  with  him  in  the  wil- 
derness. They  resolved  to  ask  him  what  was 
the  secret  of  his  consolation  under  so  many 
calamities.  They  asked,  and  the  old  man  an- 
swered with  a  heavenly  smile,  "  /  shake  the 
mulberry  trees"  It  was  a  dark  saying,  and 
they  understood  him  not ;  but,  knowing  that 
he  never  spake  unadvisedly  with  his  lips,  they 
pondered  that  saying  in  their  hearts. 

Sheshbazzar  knew  that  their  curiosity  was 
neither  idle  nor  impertinent,  and  said,  "  When 
we  come  to  the  valley  of  Baca,  I  will  ex- 
plain myself."  They  came  to  the  valley  of 
Baca,  and,  behold,  it  was  very  dry!  The 
streams  in  the  desert  were  passed  away  like 
the  summer  brook,  and  the  heavens  gave  no 
sign  of  rain.  The  pilgrims  were  panting  "  as 


TIMIDITY     EXPLAINED.  155 

the  heart  for  the  water-brooks,"  but  found 
none.  All  eyes  were  turned  to  Sheshbazzar. 
"  Shake  the  mulberry  trees/'  he  said.  They 
shook  them,  and  dew,  pure  and  plenteous  as 
"  the  dew  of  Hermon,"  began  to  pour  from 
every  leaf.  They  made  wells  around  the  mul- 
berry trees  to  prevent  the  showers  from  being 
absorbed  in  the  sand  of  the  desert,  and  then 
shook  the  trees  again.  They  drank ;  but, 
though  refreshed,  they  were  not  satisfied 
They  looked  to  Sheshbazzar  again.  His  eyes 
were  up  unto  God.  He  raised  "  the  song  of 
Degrees"  in  that  "  house  of  their  pilgrimage." 
All  joined  in  it,  and  sung,  "  I  will  lift  up  mine 
eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence  cometh  my 
help.  My  help  cometh  from  the  Lord,  who 
made  heaven  and  earth."  The  pilgrims  paused, 
No  cloud  appeared  on  Carmel,  and  no  sound 
of  rain  was  heard  from  the  wings  of  the  wind. 
"  Hath  the  Lord  forgotten  to  be  gracious  ?" 
was  a  question  quivering  on  the  parched  lips 
of  many.  Sheshbazzar  alone  was  utterly  un- 
moved. He  raised  again  the  song  of  Degrees, 


166  A  MATRON'S 

and  his  ricn  and  mellow -toned  voice  sounded  in 
the  wilderness  like  the  jubilee-trumpet  amongst 
the  mountains  of  Jerusalem.  The  pilgrims 
listened  as  if  an  angel  had  sung  : — "  He  will 
not  suffer  thy  foot  to  be  moved :  he  that 
keepeth  thee  will  not  slumber.  The  Lord  is 
thy  keeper:  The  Lord  is  thy  shade  upon 
the  right  hand.  The  Lord  shall  preserve  thee 
from  all  evil :  he  shall  preserve  thy  soul.  The 
Lord  shall  preserve  thy  going  out,  and  thy 
coming  in,  from  this  time  forth,  and  for  ever- 
more." He  paused,  and  bowed  his  head,  and 
worshipped.  The  pilgrims  felt  their  faith  in  God 
reviving,  and  renewed  their  part  of  the  song :  I 
will  lift  up  mine  eyes  unto  the  hills,  from  whence 
cometh  my  help.  My  help  cometh  from  the 
Lord,  who  made  heaven  and  earth.  And  whilst 
they  sung,  "  the  Lord  gave  a  plenteous  rain" 
to  refresh  his  weary  heritage  in  the  wilderness. 
When  they  had  drank,  and  were  satisfied, 
and  had  blessed  the  God  of  their  fathers, 
Sheshbazzar  said, — "  My  children  !  the  PRO- 
MISES of  God  are  the  mulberry  trees  in  this 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  157 

valley  of  tears.  The  dew  of  heaven  lies  all 
night  on  their  branches,  and  some  dew  may 
always  be  shaken  from  them.  When  I  was 
widowed,  like  our  father  Jacob,  I  shook  that 
unfading  mulberry  tree,  *  The  LORD  liveth ; 
and  blessed  be  the  rock  of  my  salvation?  When 
like  David,  our  king,  I  was  bereaved  of  my 
children,  I  shook  that  broad-branching  mul- 
berry tree,  1 1  will  be  unto  thee  a  better  portion  > 
than  sons  or  daughters?  Accordingly,  I  have 
found  no  trial,  without  finding  some  dew  of 
consolation  upon  the  trees  of  promise,  when- 
ever I  shook  them.  And  when  more  was  ne- 
cessary, God  has  strengthened  me  with  strength 
in  my  soul." 

The  pilgrims  looked  at  the  mulberry  trees  in 
the  valley  of  Baca,  which  they  had  shaken,  and 
smiled  complacently  on  the  good  old  man.  He 
saw  it,  and  continued  his  parable  : — 

"  It  was  not  whilst  Job  pondered  and  brood- 
ed  over  his  calamities,  that  he  said  of  God, 
'  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  put  my  trust 
in  him:'  he  was  shaking  the  mulberry  trees 
14 


158  A  MATRON'S 

when  he  said  this ;  and  when  he  said,  *  The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ; 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  Abraham 
would  never  have  yielded  Isaac  to  the  altar,  if 
he  had  not  shaken  that  great  mulberry  tree — 
*  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be 
blessed:  " 

Thus  the  pilgrims  went  on,  "  from  strength 
to  strength,"  listening  to  the  wisdom  of  Shesh- 
bazzar ;  and  "  every  one  of  them"  appeared 
"  before  God  in  Zion." 

It  is,  perhaps,  quite  as  necessary  to  explain 
the  implicit  faith  of  some  Matrons,  as  the  doubt- 
ing faith  of  others. 

Amongst  many  iond  and  fanciful  names, 
which  Sheshbazzar's  young  friends  bestowed 
upon  him,  the  favourite  one,  with  them,  was — 
the  Beershebean  Eagle.  Agreeably  to  this 
title,  his  grove,  upon  the  hill  of  vineyards,  was 
called  the  Eagle's  Nest.  The  emblem  was 
not  misapplied  ;  for  "  as  an  eagle  stirreth  up 
her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young,  spreadeth 
abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  159 

on  her  wings,"  so  Sheshbazzar,  guarded  and 
guided  his  young  friends.  It  was  not  often, 
however,  that  the  old  man  could  climb  the 
hill  of  vineyards  to  visit  the  eagle's  nest.  His 
favourite  seat  was  under  his  fig  tree.  But 
there — his  young  friends  could  not  be  alone 
with  him.  The  elders  of  Beersheba  often 
visited  him  there,  after  the  evening  sacrifice  ; 
and  some  of  them  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
vivacity  of  the  young.  Sheshbazzar's  eaglets 
seemed,  to  them,  to  require  checks  rather  than 
encouragements.  He  himself  was  often  told, 
that  if  he  did  not  clip  their  wings,  they  would 
soon  flee  off  from  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  and, 
like  Noah's  raven,  never  return.  Sheshbazzar 
was  wont  to  say,  in  answer  to  this,  "  that 
wings  were  not  made  to  be  clipped :  if  their 
flight  be  well  directed,  they  cannot  be  too  wide, 
nor  too  strong.  Let  us  treat  the  young  as 
Noah  didi  the  dove  ;  welcoming  them  into  the 
ark  of  our  confidence  whenever  they  are  weary, 
and  never  putting  them  upon  the  wing  except 
for  sacred  purposes :  then,  like  the  dove,  they 


160  A  MATRON'S 

will  return  <  bringing  an  olive  leaf  to  garland 
oiir  grey  hairs." 

The  elders  of  Beersheba  had  not  been  treated 
thus  in  the  days  of  their  youth ;  and,  there- 
fore, they  did  not  understand  the  principles  of 
Sheshbazzar's  conduct.  "  It  is  one  of  your 
odd  ways,"  they  said,  "  and  whoever  lives  to 
see  the  end  of  it  will  find  that  the  old  way  of 
chocking  is  the  best."  He  meekly  answered, 
*  We  can  never  check  what  is  evil  in  the 
young,  unless  we  cherish  what  is  good  in 
them."  Agreeably  to  this  maxim,  he  requested 
his  young  friends  to  meet  him  in  the  grove 
after  the  hour  of  the  morning  sacrifice. 

They  came  to  the  eagle's  nest,  full  of  the 
recollections  of  the  former  evening,  and  evi- 
dently mortified  by  them.  Sheshbazzar  saw 
this,  and  began,  at  once,  to  characterize  his 
aged  friends  ;  that,  in  the  presence  of  their 
sterling  worth,  their  slight  weaknesses  might 
be  forgotten. 

"We  can  appreciate  and  admire,"  said 
ESROM,  "the  meek  patience  of  Gether,  and 


TIMIDITY   EXPLAINED,  161 

the  warm  zeal  of  Laish,  and  the  solemn  piety 
of  MaJdon,  and  the  cedar-like  integrity  of 
Jasher ;  but  we  can  learn  nothing  from  their 
lips.  Their  character  is  eloquent,  whilst  they 
remain  silent.  When  they  speak,  the  charm 
dissolves  ;  for  they  are  all  men  of  one  idea,  or 
their  thoughts  have  no  connexion.  How  is 
iheir  character  thus  superior  to  their  know- 
ledge ?  You  often  tell  us,  that  we  shall  never 
act  better  than  we  know.  Are  they  not  excep- 
tions to  this  rule  ?" 

"Not  in  the  least,  Esrom,"  said  Shesh- 
bazzar  ;  "  and,  when  you  have  more  than  one 
idea  of  this  subject,  you  will  find  that  their 
character  is  superior,  not  to  their  knowledge, 
but  to  their  talents  and  tongues.  Each  of 
them  knows  experimentally  that  the  God  of 
his  fathers  is  the  God  of  SALVATION  ;  and  that 
single  truth,  when  vividly  and  habitually  rea- 
Hved,  by  minds  of  any  order,  is  quite  sufficient 
to  account  for  any  degree  of  hope  or  holiness. 
The  minds  of  the  elders  are,  indeed,  compara- 
tively narrow ;  but  they  are  completely  full,  and 
14* 


162  A   MATRON'S 

absorbed  with  the  TRUTH  OF  TRUTHS  ; — and  a 
SERAPH'S  mind  cannot  be  more  than  full!  I 
should,  indeed,  prefer  to  see  their  thoughts  in 
clusters  like  the  grapes,  and  in  ears  like  the 
corn,  or  at  least,  threaded  like  the  pearls  of  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  ;  but  pearls  do  not  grow  in 
strings,  and  the  wine  is  sweetest  when  the 
grapes  are  picked  off  from  the  stalks,  and  the 
ear  must  be  broken  up  before  the  corn  can  be 
made  into  bread."  Thus  Sheshbazzar  played 
with  the  subject,  that  he  might  divert  the  atten- 
tion of  his  eaglets  from  it.  But  RACHEL  was 
there,  and  she  had  been  wounded,  as  well  as 
mortified,  by  the  cold  looks  and  cutting  sarcasms 
of  the  elders  ;  and  as  she  was  now  more  ifttent 
upon  excelling  in  character,  than  on  shining  in 
talent  or  knowledge,  she  repeated  the  question 
— How  do  these  good  men  act  better  than  they 
understand  ? 

Sheshbazzar,  denied  again  that  they  did. 
"  They  merely  act  better  than  they  explain. 
They  have  reacons  for  their  conduct  and  spirit, 
although  they  cannot  alvfays  '  render  a  reason* 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  163 

in  words.  Their  reasons  may  be  few,  but  they 
are  not  weak.  The  form  of  them  may  not  be 
philosophical  nor  fascinating ;  but  the  sub- 
stance of  them  is  divine.  The  simple  consi- 
derations—4 This  is  the  will  of  God,' — '  That 
is  for  the  glory  of  God,' — '  Thus  the  Patri- 
archs acted,' — determine  the  character  of  the 
elders,  as  effectually  as  the  sublimest  forms  of 
these  facts  could  sway  the  master-spirits  of  the 
universe,  and  far  more  effectually  than  your 
poetical  reasons  influence  your  faith  or  prac- 
tice." 

"  My  children,"  said  the  old  man,  and  he 
became  solemn  as  a  dying  man,  "  mistake  not 
my  meaning  nor  motives.  I  look  at  you  too 
often  not  to  see  it,  and  love  you  too  well  not 
to  tell  it — your  minds  are  not  yet  full  nor 
happy  by  what  you  know  of  the  God  of  your 
fathers,  as  the  God  of  salvation.  Your  hearts 
are  still  divided  between  God  and  the  world. 
You  are  afraid  to  forget  or  forsake  Him,  and 
it  is  well ;  but  you  do  not  delight  to  be  often 
alone  with  him  in  prayer,  nor  to  meditate  upon 


164  A   MATRON'S 

His  character,  except  when  your  thoughts  as- 
sume forms  of  mystery  or  majesty.  You  are 
rather  fascinated  by  sublime  ideas  of  Jehovah, 
than  affected  by  sweet  or  solemn  ideas.  His 
character  attracts  you  more  by  the  boundless 
range  which  it  opens  to  your  excursive  ima- 
gination, than  by  the  solid  basis  it  affords  for 
your  eternal  hopes.  Accordingly,  were  your 
best  thoughts  resolved  into  their  simple  ele- 
ments, they  would  lose  more  than  one  half  of 
their  hold  upon  you.  The  facts  of  the  great 
salvation,  without  its  figures,  would  be  held 
tame  by  you — so  much  are  you  the  creatures 
of  fancy.  But  what  are  the  constellated  ima- 
ges with  which  genius  has  enshrined,  as  with 
another  '  cloud  of  glory,'  the  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant ;  compared  with  the  simple  fact,  that  our 
God  is  the  God  of  salvation  ?  This  truth  duly 
apprehended  and  appreciated,  would  render  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  glorious  in  your  eyes,  even 
if  the  shechinah  were  removed  from  it,  or  had 
never  rested  upon  it." 

"  True,  father,"  said  Rachel,  blushing  as  she 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  165 

spoke ;  "  but  the  God  who  gave  the  covenant 
of  promise,  gave  the  shechinah  of  glory  along 
with  it.  He  himself  has  invested  and  enshrined 
•even  the  truth  of  truths  with  its  chief  attrac- 
tions, and  thrown  around  it  all  the  pomp  and 
plentitude  of  imagery," 

"I  grant  it,  my  daughter — readily  grant  it, 
und  cordially  rejoice  in  the  *  divers  manners'  in 
which  God  spoke  unto  our  fathers  by  the  pro- 
phets. I  feel  that  I  owe  much  both  to  the 
splendid  and  the  mysterious  forms  in  which 
the  great  salvation  has  been  revealed.  I  doubt, 
from  the  character  of  my  own  mind,  whether 
the  covenant  if  given  in  simpler  forms,  would 
have  arrested  my  wayward  attention,  so  as  to 
win  and  fix  my  volatile  heart.  The  majesty 
of  God's  language  is,  however,  a  part  of  God's 
infinite  condescension.  Nor  must  we  forget  the 
character  of  our  nation,  when  He  multiplied 
and  heightened  the  hallowed  enshrinements  of 
the  covenant.  Noah  required  no  shechinah  on 
Ararat,  nor  Abraham  on  Moriah,  to  endear  the 
covenant  to  them,  or  to  induce  them  to  set  the 


166  A   MATRON'S 

bloody  seal  of  sacrifice  to  it.  Both  the  mag- 
nificence and  the  variety  of  Mosaic  worship 
are,  therefore,  the  measure  of  our  fathers' 
minds,  when  they  came  out  of  Egypt  and  set- 
tled in  Canaan* 

••  But  1  have  no  wish  to  evade  the  force  of 
Rachel's  remark.  God  has  as  evidently  di- 
versified the  forms  of  truth  to  please  the  mind, 
as  the  flavour  of  fruits,  or  the  colour  of  flowers, 
to  gratify  the  senses.  The  food  of  the  soul  is 
obviously  from  the  same  hand  as  the  food  of 
the  body.  It  is  not,  however,  the  rind  of  the 
pomegranate,  nor  the  bloom  of  the  grape,  nor 
the  golden  tinge  of  the  corn,  that  we  prize 
most.  We  do  prize  these  lovely  hues  as  proofs 
of  ripeness,  but  the  nourishment  is  in  the  fruit 
which  they  beautify  :  so  it  is  with  revealed 
truth. 

"  1  have  thought  too,  at  times,  that  there  are 
deeper  reasons  for  the  profusion  of  figurative 
language  in  the  word  of  God,  than  some  sus- 
pect. For,  by  thus  seizing  upon  all  the  sublime 
and  lovely  objects  in  nature,  and  consecrating 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED,  167 

them  to  the  illustration  of  the  Divine  character 
and  government,  so  that  they  bum  as  lamps 
around  the  eternal  throne,  God  has  created  a 
grand  antidote  against  IDOLATRY.  The  natural 
objects  which  are  the  gods  of  other  nations  are 
thus  made  the  mere  servants  of  the  true  God, 
or  only  the  shadows  of  his  glory :  so  that  what 
they  worship,  we  employ  a*  helps  in  his  wor- 
ship. And,  woo  could  bow  to  the  sun  shining 
in  bis  strength,  or  kiss  the  hand  to  the  moon 
walking  in  her  brightness,  who  bad  once  read, 
that  God  is  the  '  Father  of  lights,  without  vari- 
ableness or  the  shadow  of  turning  V  ESROM  ! 
you  can  follow  out  this  hint ;  it  is  quite  in  your 
line  of  things. 

"And,  Rachel,  the  following  hint  is  in  your 
line.  There  is  a  strong  tendency  to  extremes 
in  the  human  mind.  Some  who  love  nature 
with  enthusiasm,  loathe  religion,  or  conceal 
their  dislike  to  it  under  the  thin  veil  of  polite 
and  vague  compliments.  Others  love  religion 
with  unquestionable  cordiality ;  but,  from  seeing 
the  votaries  of  nature  averse  to  the  word  and 


168  A   MATRON'S 

worship  of  Jehovah,  they  are  afraid  of  nature, 
and  inclined  to  frown  upon  every  reference  ta 
its  beauties  or  sublimities.  They  thus  seem 
to  think  that  a  star  or  a  flower  is  as  likely  as 
Baal  or  Ashtaroth,  to  estrange  the  human  mind 
from  God  and  godliness.  In  their  estimation,, 
it  is  heresy  to  speak  well  of  "  the  sweet  influ- 
ences of  the  Pleiades ;"  and  empty  sentimea- 
tality  to  be  affected  by  the  varied  scenery  of 
the  heavens  or  the  earth.  They  confine  them- 
selves to  scriptural  language,  and  yet  forget 
that  it  is  full  of  nature !  The  word  of  God  re- 
gisters all  the  works  of  God,  and  calls  them  all 
forth  *  in  their  season,'  to  do  homage  to  itself 
and  its  subjects ;  and  yet  these  good  people 
seem  unconscious  of  the  fact.  Was  it  not  a& 
an  antidote  against  this  divorce  of  nature  from 
religion.,  that  God  incorporated  with  the  reve- 
lation of  eternal  things  so  many  appeals  to  the 
scenes  and  seasons  of  nature  ?  RACHEL,  this 
is  in  your  new  line  of  things.  Whilst  you 
were  prayerless,  you  were  a  mere  sentiment- 
alist ;  and  only  too  willing  to  find  excuses  for 


TIMIDITY    EXPLAINED.  169 

the  neglect  of  the  Scriptures.  You  preferred 
the  works  of  God  to  the  word  of  God.  This 
proved  how  little  you  read  the  latter,  and  how 
superficially  you  studied  the  former.  Nothing 
honours  nature  so  highly  as  the  Bible  has  done. 
Moses  and  the  Prophets  have  looked  upon  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  with  a  more  poetic  eye 
than  the  poets  of  antiquity,  or  the  harpers  of 
our  own  times." 

Thus  the  Eagle  of  Beersheba  guarded  and 
guided  his  young. 

15 


No.  V. 


THE  MARTS  AT  THE  GROSS. 


THERE  are  no  familiar  expressions  which  a 
Christian  understands  better,  or  means  more 
by,  than  the  emphatic  words,—"  visiting  Cal- 
vary,"— "going  to  the  Cross," — "leaning  on 
the  Cross," — "  kneeling  at  the  Cross," — 
"  clinging  to  the  Cross," — "  looking  to  the 
Cross."  In  one  or  other  of  these  consecrated 
forms  of  speech,  a  Christian  embodies  all  that 
is  best  in  the  spirit  of  his  penitence,  and  of  his 
faith,  and  of  his  devotion.  Indeed,  when  his 
heart  is  not  at  the  Cross,  his  penitence  is 
neither  deep  nor  tender ;  his  faith  neither 
strong  nor  lively  ;  his  devotion  neither  sweet 
nor  solemn.  Whenever  he  ceases  to  glory  in 
the  Cross,  he  sinks  into  coldness  or  formality. 
And  if  he  quit  the  Cross,  or  lose  sight  of  it, 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS.      171 

he  loses  both  hope  and  heart,  until  he  get  back 
to  it  again. 

Nothing  of  this  experience  has,  of  course, 
any  connexion  with  the  use  that  was  once 
made  of  crosses  and  crucifixes,  in  religion. 
When  they  were  most  in  use,  such  experience 
was  least  known.  More  hearts,  and  more  of 
each  heart,  have  been  won  to  Christ  crucified 
by  the  preaching  of  the  Cross,  than  by  all  the 
visible  exhibitions  of  it  which  painting  ever 
embodied,  or  sculpture  emblazoned.  When 
crosses  were  most  numerous,  real  Christians 
were  fewest,  and  the  real  Cross  least  influen- 
tial. This  is  only  what  might  be  expected. 
Emblems,  by  bringing  home  the  r rucifixion  to 
the  senses,  kept  the  understanding  and  the 
heart  far  off  from  its  great  principles,  and  its 
true  spirit. 

But  whilst  Christian  experience  itself  has 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  once  popular  uses 
of  a  visible  cross,  the  language  in  which  that 
experience  speaks,  is,  in  no  small  degree,  both 
derived  and  enriched  from  this  old  source.  The 


172  THE  MARYS   AT   THE   CROSS. 

familiar  expressions  which  once  described  what 
the  body  did  at  a  cross,  or  with  a  crucifix,  now 
describes  exactly  what  the  soul  tries  to  do  when 
contemplating  the  Lamb  of  God,  slain  for  the 
sin  of  the  world.  Not,  however,  that  the  scrip- 
tural worship  of  Protestanism  is  thus  an  inten- 
ded or  conscious  imitation  of  the  bodily  service 
of  Popery  :  no,  indeed :  such  an  idea  never 
occurs  to  the  mind,  even  when  it  is  clasping 
and  clinging  to  the  Cross  in  thought,  just  as 
superstition  did  to  the  symbol  in  action. 

We  are  not,  however,  indebted  to  superstition 
for  all  our  emphatic  forms  of  expressing  the 
exercise  of  faith  or  penitence,  at  the  Cross. 
Superstition  itself  borrowed  the  elements  of  its 
best  language,  on  this  subject,  from  the  word  of 
God.  Both  the  holding  up  of  the  crucifix,  by 
the  priest,  and  the  looking  at  it,  by  the  penitent, 
are  literal  imitations  :  the  one  of  setting  forth 
Christ  "  openly  crucified,"  and  the  other  of  be- 
lieving on  Him  with  the  heart.  In  like  manner, 
the  postures  and  gestures  of  superstition  at  a 
cross,  are  imitations  of  the  real  or  supposed 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS.       173 

conduct  of  the  Marys  on  Calvary.  Their  con- 
duct, however,  deserves  something  better  than 
popish  imitation,  or  even  than  Protestant  admi- 
ration. It  is  more  complimented  than  under- 
stood. The  Marys  were,  indeed,  "  the  last  at 
the  Cross,  and  the  first  at  the  Sepulchre,  of 
Christ ;"  and  felt,  no  doubt,  all  that  poetry  or 
piety  has  ascribed  to  them,  on  that  solemn  oc- 
casion. They  must,  however,  have  felt  far 
more,  and  in  another  way,  than  is  usually  sup- 
posed. For,  unless  the  Virgin  Mary  be  an  ex- 
ception to  the  others,  they  had  not  exactly  our 
views  of  the  death  of  Christ,  to  guide  their 
feelings.  What  we  look  at  as  an  atoning  sacri- 
fice offered  to  God,  they  saw  chiefly  as  an 
atrocious  murder  perpetrated  by  man.  Whilst 
we  see  chiefly,  on  Calvary,  the  flashing  sword 
of  Divine  Justice,  and  the  bursting  vials  of 
Divine  Anger,  they  saw  only  the  gleaming  of 
the  Roman  arms,  and  the  glare  of  Jewish  ven- 
geance. Where  we  hear  chiefly  the  thunders 
of  the  Divine  Law,  they  heard  only  the  fero- 
cious execrations  of  a  frantic  mob.  Their  feel- 
15*  .' 


174      THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS. 

ings,  whilst  witnessing  the  crucifixion,  could 
not  therefore  be  akin  to  our  feelings  whilst  con- 
templating it.  Their  sorrow,  then,  deep,  and 
melting,  and  genuine  as  it  was,  was  not  peni- 
tence, nor  was  their  overwhelming  depression 
humility.  Their  love  to  Christ  was,  indeed,  at 
its  height,  when  his  own  love  to  them  and  to 
the  world  was  highest ;  but  it  was  not  as  an 
atoning  Saviour  they  loved  him  then. 

They  did,  however,  love  him  then  and  before, 
as  a  Saviour :  yea,  as  the  only  Saviour.  It  is 
as  much  under  the  sober  truth  to  ascribe  their 
love  to  Christ  unto  sympathy,  friendship,  or 
ordinary  gratitude,  as  it  is  beyond  the  truth,  to 
ascribe  it  unto  faith  in  the  atoning  efficacy  or 
design  of  his  death.  Two  of  the  Marys,  at 
least,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  known  or  be- 
lieved more,  at  the  time,  than  the  Apostles  did  : 
and  they  neither  understood  then  what  Christ 
had  foretold  of  his  resurrection,  nor  approved 
what  he  had  foretold  of  his  death.  Accordingly, 
the  women  were  as  hopeless  as  the  men,  on  the 
morning  of  the  third  day,  until  the  Angels  told 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS.      175 

them  of  his  resurrection  :  for  it  was  not  to  wel- 
come a  living  Saviour,  but  to  complete  the  en- 
tombment of  the  dead  Saviour,  that  they  went 
so  early  and  eagerly  to  the  sepulchre.  The 
"  sweet  spices"  they  brought  to  "  anoint  Him," 
prove  that  they  had  no  hope  of  finding  him 
alive  then.  Mark  xvi.  1.  They  were  not, 
however,  without  faith  in  Him,  as  the  Saviour, 
even  then.  Mary  of  Magdala  continued  to  speak 
of  Him  as  her  "  LORD,"  even  when  she  sup- 
posed that  his  body  had  been  removed  from  the 
sepulchre,  and  laid  somewhere  else.  John  xx. 
13.  u  They  have  taken  away  my  Lord,  and  I 
know  not  where  they  have  laid  him,"  was  her 
first  answer  to  the  Angels,  when  they  said  to 
her,  "  Woman,  why  weepest  thou  ?"  I  would 
not  graft  too  much  meaning  upon  the  word 
"  Lord"  itself,  in  this  instance  ;  nor  upon  her 
use  of  it  at  the  time.  I  will  suppose  nothing 
more,  than  that  she  used  it  then  just  in  the 
sense  she  had  been  accustomed  to  attach  to  it, 
whilst  the  Saviour  was  alive  :  and  there  is  no 
reason  whatever,  to  think  that  His  death  had 


176  THE     MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS. 

altered  her  opinion  of  either  his  Messiahship 
or  his  Sonship.  It  had,  no  doubt,  blasted  all 
her  hope  of  seeing  Him  establish  that  temporal 
kingdom  on  earth,  which  all  the  disciples  ex- 
pected :  but  it  withered  none  of  the  hopes  of 
pardon  and  eternal  life,  which  she  had  formerly 
planted  upon  the  power  and  promises  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

This  is  the  real  point  to  be  kept  in  view, 
whilst  judging  of  the  motives  and  emotions  of 
the  Marys  at  the  Cross.  They  did  not  under- 
stand that  the  Lamb  of  God  was  then  taking 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,  or  laying  down  his 
life  as  a  ransom  for  them  ;  but  they  had  no 
doubt,  even  then,  of  his  being  the  Lamb  of 
God,  nor  of  his  being  their  Saviour.  All  their 
conduct  on  Calvary,  and  especially  the  honour- 
able and  costly  funeral  they  prepared  for  Christ, 
prove,  to  a  demonstration,  that  their  "  hope  in 
Christ"  had  not  died  with  him.  It  does  not  seem 
to  have  dimmed  at  all,  even  when  the  sun  be- 
came darkness  ;  nor  to  have  shaken  at  all,  even 
when  the  earth  shook  and  trembled ;  nor  to  have 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS.      177 

drooped  at  all,  even  when  the  sepulchre  was 
sealed.  Their  hope  of  salvation  was  then  as 
much  with  him  "  in  Paradise,"  as  the  spirit  of 
the  penitent  thief  was  there  with  him. 

The  truth  of  these  strong  assertions  lies  on 
the  very  surface  of  the  narrative  ;  and  applies 
equally  to  Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  Nicode- 
mus.  Indeed,  there  is  no  evidence,  direct  or 
indirect,  that  the  death  of  Christ  overthrew 
the  spiritual  hopes,  or  altered  the  spiritual 
opinions,  of  any  of  the  disciples.  It  upset  all 
their  hope  of  a  temporal  kingdom,  or  of  what 
they  called,  "  redeeming  Israel ;"  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  brought  the  shadow  of  either 
a  doubt  or  a  suspicion  upon  their  minds,  in  re- 
gard to  his  Divine  character  or  mission.  They 
all  forsook  Him,  indeed,  at  the  crisis  of  his  fate ; 
but  not  from  unbelief,  but  from  fear  and  con- 
sternation. The  sheep  scattered  when  the 
Good  Shepherd  was  smitten ;  but  they  did  so 
lest  they  themselves  should  be  smitten  with 
him  ;  and  not  because  they  had  ceased  to  con- 
sider him  as  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  their 


178  THE    MARYS   AT   THE    CROSS. 

souls.  The  idea  of  imposture,  or  fraud  of  any 
kind,  on  His  part,  never  seems  to  have  crossed 
their  minds,  even  when  appearances  were  most 
against  his  claims.  John  obeyed  that  dying 
injunction  of  Christ,  "  Behold  thy  mother !" 
as  promptly  and  cordially  as  ever  he  obeyed 
any  command  given  by  Christ,  when  in  the 
plenitude  of  his  power  and  glory.  "  From 
that  hour  that  disciple  took  her  into  his  own 
house."  John  xix.  27.  In  like  manner,  the  very 
"  sadness'1  of  the  two  disciples,  on  the  way  to 
Emmaus,  proves,,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  their 
opinion  of  their  Lord's  integrity  had  under- 
gone no  change  by  his  death.  Their  spirit 
would  have  been  bitter  or  indignant,  not  sad 
only,  if  they  had  thought  him  a  deceiver.  Be- 
sides, they  did  not  hesitate  nor  faulter  to  say 
of  Him,  even  then,  that  he  was  both  "  JESUS 
of  Nazareth,"  and  "  a  Prophet  mighty  in  deed 
and  word  before  God  and  all  the  people." 

The  conduct  of  the  Marys  is,  however,  still 
more  decisive.  They  never  would  have  fol- 
lowed Christ  with  tears  to  Calvary,  nor  stood 


THE   MARYS   AT   THE   CROSS.  179 

either  nigh  to  or  afar  off  from  the  Cross,  if 
they  had  changed  their  opinion  of  his  truth  or 
of  his  grace.  They  did  not,  indeed,  recognise 
Him  as  then  sealing  the  everlasting  covenant 
with  his  blood  ;  but  they  evidently  saw  Him 
sealing  the  truth  of  both  his  gracious  promises 
and  his  high  pretensions  by  his  blood  ;  for  it 
was  (and  they  knew  it)  because  he  would  not 
retract  nor  qualify  his  high  claims,  that  he  was 
condemned  and  crucified.  Accordingly,  at  his 
burial,  they  acted  a  part,  throughout,  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  strong  and  unaltered  faith 
in  both  his  truth  and  grace.  For,  who  does 
not  see  at  a  glance,  that  the  Marys  neither 
would  nor  could  have  lavished  their  attentions 
and  tenderness  upon  His  funeral,  if  they  had 
doubted  his  faithfulness  or  his  sincerity  ?  Be- 
sides, Mary  of  Magdala  had  a  living  proof,  in 
her  own  bosom,  of  His  Divine  power.  He 
had  "cast  out  seven  devils"  from  her  spirit: 
and,  as  they  did  not  return  when  he  was  im- 
prisoned, nor  whilst  he  hung  on  the  cross,  nor 
even  when  he  died,  she  could  not  but  be  sure 


ISO  THE   MARYS   AT   THE   CROSS. 

that  his  death  had  neither  disproved  his  power, 
nor  discredited  his  character. 

I  bring  out  these  facts  with  some  care,  be- 
cause they  enable  us  to  make  a  right  use  of 
the  example  of  these  holy  women  :  for,  they  are 
thus,  perfect  models  of  faith  in  the  truth  of  the 
Saviour's  promises,  and  of  love  to  the  Saviour's 
character.  That  faith  and  love  they  cherished, 
avowed,  and  exemplified,  when  all  the  aspects 
of  the  universe  seemed  to  frown  upon,  and  to 
fight  against,  His  person  and  mission.  Neither 
the  cowardly  flight  of  his  friends,  nor  the  reck- 
less fury  of  His  enemies,  moved  the  Marys. 
They  "  stood  by  the  cross,"  when  the  cross 
itself  could  hardly  stand  on  the  quaking  mount. 
They  forsook  him  not,  even  when  they  heard 
him  declare  that  God  had  "  forsaken"  him ! 

They  did  not,  of  course,  understand,  at  the 
time,  the  mystery  of  that  judicial  "  LAMA  SA- 
BACHTHANI  ;"  but  neither  its  mystery,  nor  its 
terrors,  alienated  their  affection  or  their  confi- 
dence from  the  Saviour.  "  None  of  these 
things  moved"  them  !  Shall,  then,  less  things 


THE    MARYS   AT   THE   CROSS.  1Q1 

move  you  from  the  Cross  of  Christ  ?  This  is 
the  point  I  wanted  to  bring  you  to.  Now,  if 
the  Marys  did  and  endured  so  well,  whilst  the 
death  of  Christ  was  before  them  only  as  a 
murder  and  a  martyrdom, — what  a  height 
both  their  faith  and  love  would  have  risen  to, 
had  they  known,  as  you  know,  that  it  was  an 
atoning  Sacrifice,  securing  "  eternal  inherit- 
ance" to  all  in  heaven,  who  had  died  in  the 
faith  of  Christ ;  and  "  eternal  redemption"  to 
all  on  earth,  who  should  then  or  afterwards 
believe  on  him !  Oh,  had  they  seen  then,  as 
you  see  now,  how  all  the  curse  of  the  Law 
was  cancelled  by  His  bearing  its  curse  ;  how 
all  the  perfections  of  Jehovah  were  satisfied 
and  glorified  in  the  highest,  by  His  voluntary 
submission  to  their  will ;  how  all  the  balance 
and  basis  of  the  Divine  government  were 
established  for  ever,  by  His  one  offering  of 
himself  as  the  votary  of  their  holiness,  and 
as  the  victim  of  their  justice  ; — had  the 
Marys  been  aware  of  all  this,  whilst  they 
stood  by  the  Cross,  their  conduct  and  spi- 
16 


182  THE    MARYS     AT     THE    CROSS. 

rit,  noble  as  these  were,  would  have  beeir 
nobler  still  !  Surely,  then,  your  conduct  and 
spirit  should  not,  need  not,  be  inferior  to 
theirs  ;  seeing  your  knowledge  of  the  glory  of 
the  Cross  is  so  much  superior  to  any  and  all 
that  they  possessed,  when  they  thus  rose 
above  the  fear  of  peril  and  reproach,  and 
balanced  all  the  mysteries  of  the  crucifixion 
by  faith  in  the  character  of  the  CRUCIFIED^ 


There  is,  indeed,  mystery  about  the  Cross 
still.  And,  why  should  there  not  ?  I  will  not 
answer  this  question  by  reminding  your  that 
there  is  mystery  in  every  thing  great  and 
small,  mental  and  material,  throughout  the  uni- 
verse. But,  whilst,  this  fact  should  teach  us 
to  expect  it  in  the  Cross  too,  our  own  charac- 
ter and  spirit  may  well  suggest  to  us,  that  our 
"  faith  and  patience''  require  some  "  trial,"  in 
common  with  others. 

The  Marys  were  not  exempted  :  and  why 
should  we  be  so  ?  They  ha  1  to  believe  and 
obey,  when  there  was  more  inystery  and  less 


THE    MARYS     AT    THE    CROSS.  183 

majesty  around  the  Cross,  than  now  invest  it : 
for  now  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  mock 
robe  and  reed  of  supremacy,  are  exchanged  for 
the  real  crown  and  sceptre  of  universal  govern- 
ment ;  the  scornful  "  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews," 
is  followed  by  the  vying  and  everlasting  "  Hal- 
lelujahs" of  all  the  armies  of  heaven  :  the  cen- 
tral cross  on  Calvary  is  succeeded  by  the 
"  middle  seat  on  the  eternal  throne  :"  the  mo- 
mentary frown  of  judicial  anger,  has  given 
place  for  ever  to  the  endless  and  unalterable 
complacency  of  paternal  love  :  the  keys  of 
death  and  the  invisible  world  hang  upon  the 
"  vesture  dipped  in  blood,"  and  He  who  was 
"  numbered  with  transgressors,"  is  now  identi- 
fied with  Deity,  in  all  the  homage  and  glory 
which  saints  or  angels  can  render.  If,  there- 
fore, the  miracles  which  the  Marys  saw,  and 
the  voices  from  heaven  which  they  heard, 
proved  to  them  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and 
counterbalanced  all  the  wants  and  woes  of  His 
earthly  lot ;  surely  His  place  on  the  throne 
and  in  the  worship  of  Heaven,  may  well  over- 


184       THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS. 

power  every  difficulty  which  reason  meets,  or 
speculation  suspects,  in  the  Divinity  and  glory 
of  the  Saviour. 

I  neither  profess  to  solve  the  mystery  of 
His  incarnation  and  sacrifice,  nor  pretend  to 
be  unaffected  by  it ;  but  I  do  claim  the  right  to 
be  heard  and  heeded  when  I  say  to  you,  that 
an  atoning  Saviour  is  the  universal  creed  of 
Heaven,  and  the  only  creed  on  earth  which 
converts  sinners,  or  consoles  saints. 

Happily,  only  a  few  females,  amongst  the 
increasing  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
the  intellectual,  have  had  the  fool-hardiness  to 
stand  forward  in  open  hostility  to  the  Godhead 
of  the  Saviour.  This  pitiable  contrast  to  all 
the  pure  spirits  around  the  eternal  throne — 
this  monstrous  singularity,  in  a  universe  which 
adores  the  Lamb, — is  not  presented  by  many 
of  your  sex.  Long  may  it  be  proverbially  true 
of  the  sex  at  large,  that  they  are  still  the  last 
to  quit  the  Cross,  and  the  first  to  visit  the 
Sepulchre. 

You  have,  perhaps,  some  reproach  to  en- 


THE   MARYS    AT   THE    CROSS.  185 

counter,  in  thus  imitating  the  Marys.  Well ; 
brave  and  bear  it  as  they  did.  Had  they  not 
dared  all  hazards,  how  many  souls  might  have 
been  lost,  whom  their  noble  example  has  won 
to  Christ  ?  Had  they  shrunk  back  from  own- 
ing Him,  after  having  received  so  much  grace 
from  him,  how  many  traitors  and  cowards 
might  have  sprung  from  their  timidity  ?  And 
should  you  flee  or  flinch  from  the  Cross,  in 
order  to  escape  "  the  reproach"  of  it,  you  will 
peril  more  souls  than  your  own. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  trying  dilemma  when  a  wife 
or  a  daughter  cannot  "  confess  Christ"  in  their 
family,  without  giving  offence.  It  is  a  very 
strong  temptation  to  be  silent,  or  to  compromise 
evangelical  truth,  when  the  avowal  of  that 
truth  breaks  the  peace  and  harmony  of  home. 
Firmness  is,  however,  kindness  to  the  oppo- 
sers.  There  is  no  such  cruelty  to  an  unbe- 
lieving partner,  parent,  or  brother,  as  breaking 
faith  with  Christ,  in  order  to  keep  the  peace 
with  them.  For,  what  is  this  peace,  whilst 
you  must  carry  about  with  you  the  horrible 
16* 


186  THE   MARYS   AT   THE   CROSS. 

consciousness  that  they  must  perish  by  their 
unbelief,  and  that  you  are  abetting  that  unbe- 
lief! I  invoke,  adjure,  you  to  consider  this! 
For,  could  you  so  conceal  your  faith  from 
them,  as  to  satisfy  them  without  periling  your 
own  soul,  you  would  but  more  effectually  peril 
their  souls. 

Look  again  at  the  Marys,  and  be  firm.  De- 
pend upon  it,  if  you  have  to  witness  for  Christ 
at  home,  your  firmness  will  eventually  win 
souls  at  home,  as  well  as  save  yourself.  Let 
"  AZUR  and  ZALMON"  suggest  to  you,  how  you 
may  join  fidelity  with  tenderness,  in  dealing 
with  "  the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ." 

AZUR  and  ZALMON  were  "  Hebrews  of  the 
Hebrews,"  and  had  been  Pharisees  of  the 
Pharisees ;  but  both  had  renounced  Judaism 
for  Christianity,  although  from  different  prin- 
ciples. Zalmon  was  won  by  the  EXAMPLE  of 
Christ:  Azur  by  the  ATONEMENT  of  Christ. 
Zalmon  was  fond  of  the  Oriental  and  Grecian 
philosophers  who  speculated  on  Christianity ; 
Azur  refused  to  associate  with  them,  and  would 


THE    MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS.  187 

not  acknowledge  them  as  believers.  He  loved 
Zalmon  as  the  friend  of  his  youth,  but  treated 
his  pretensions  to  be  a  Christian  as  unfounded  ; 
for  they  had  been  advanced  in  this  form  and 
spirit : 

"  I  can  no  longer  resist  the  evidences  of 
Christianity,"  said  Zalmon :  "  like  the  autum- 
nal floods  of  Jordan,  they  bear  unto  the  DEAD 
Sea  every  objection,  as  it  comes  within  the 
mighty  sweep  of  their  swellings.  The  all- 
perfect  character  of  Jesus  demonstrates  his 
Messiahship  :  it  was  so  pure,  and  yet  so  social 
withal ;  so  unbending  in  principle,  and  yet  so 
bland  in  manners  withal ;  so  tried  by  calamity, 
and  yet  so  patient  withal.  Although  he  was 
dragged  from  the  cradle  to  the  cross,  as  it  were, 
on  the  hurdle  of  poverty,  by  the  wild  horses 
of  slander  and  persecution,  neither  agony  nor 
ignominy  could  alienate  him  from  his  mission, 
nor  alter  his  character.  Like  light,  he  passed 
through  every  medium  uncontaminated.  Not 
to  be  a  Christian,  therefore,  is  irrational." 

"  If  you  mean  by  his  mission,  his  MEDIA- 


J88  THE    MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS. 

TION,"  said  Azur,  "  I  congratulate  you  upon 
your  conversion :  and,,  whatever  you  mean, 
Zalmon,  I  hail  your  triumph  over  the  preju- 
dices which  blind  our  nation  to  the  beauty  of 
the  Saviour's  holiness.  But  in  your  philo- 
sophical circle,  it  is  become  fashionabb  to 
reduce  his  death  to  the  rank  of  a  martyrdom 
for  truth,  and  to  exalt  his  example  on  the  ruins 
of  his  Cross.  I  may  not  own  this  as  Chris- 
tianity :  I  stand  in  doubt  of  you." 

"  I  suspected,  Azur,  that  you  would,"  said 
Zalmon ;  you  live  amongst  little  minds ;  I 
move  amongst  the  sages  of  the  city.  You  are 
smitten  with  the  love  of  mystery ;  I  am,  with 
.the  love  of  VIRTUE.  It  is  enough  for  me  to 
find  in  Christ,  the  Sun  of  Moral  Righteousness  : 
in  that  capacity  he  will  hold  an  eternal  meri- 
dian, and  shine  with  healing  in  his  wings, 
until  righteousness  become  universal.  Such  an 
example  the  world  wanted  ;  and,  having  found 
it  in  Christ,  wants  nothing  more  for  salvation. 
Here  my  faith  begins  and  ends" 

*'  ^almon !    be  serious  :    thus  the  faith  of 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS.      189 

NICODEMUS  began.  He  acknowledged  Christ 
to  be  a  Teacher  sent  from  God ;  and  Christ 
treated  the  avowal  as  unworthy  of  his  notice. 
He  did  not  welcome  the  meagre  compliment, 
but  proceeded  to  teach  the  '  Master  in  Israel,' 
that  the  SON  of  God  was  sent  into  the  world 
to  be  lifted  up  on  the  Cross,  as  a  sacrifice  for 
sin.  Remember  this  fact ;  and  •  marvel  not 
that  I  say  unto  you,  Ye  must  be  born  again.' " 
"  My  early  and  tried  friend,  I  will  be  seri- 
ous. I  have  marked,  AZUR,  the  fact  you 
mention,  and  feel  staggered  by  its  bearings. 
It  is  to  the  point.  And,  as  a  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews,  I  cannot  forget  that,  under  the  law, 
the  pardon  of  sin  was  inseparable  from  sacri- 
fice. The  principle  of  ATONEMENT  was  as 
prominent  in  our  once  holy  system,  as  the 
Temple  in  our  holy  city.  All  this  I  frankly 
concede  to  be  fact ;  but  pretend  not  to  under- 
stand it.  My  present  opinion  is,  that  the  per- 
fect EXAMPLE  of  Christ,  and  his  illumination 
of  IMMORTALITY,  by  raising  the  standard  of 
morals,  render  sacrifice  unnecessary." 


190    THE  MARYS  AT  THE  CROSS. 

"  Zalmon  !  Zalmon  !  sacrifices  are,  indeed, 
unnecessary  now  ;  but  on  your  new  principles, 
they  were  always  useless  and  unmeaning. 
*  The  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  could  never 
take  away  sin,J  nor  open  the  gates  of  Paradise 
to  the  spirits  of  our  fathers.  Think  me  not 
harsh,  because  I  am  warm.  You  have  for- 
saken Judaism  without  embracing  Christianity. 
Neither  Christ  nor  Moses  would  now  own  you 
as  his  disciple.  You  occupy  a  place  against 
which  Sinai  and  Calvary  equally  roll  their 
thunders.  Am  I  therefore  become  your  enemy 
because  I  tell  you  the  truth  ?  Let  them  flatter 
you  who  love  you  not :  I  love  you,  and  there- 
fore warn  you.  And  now,  having  done  so, 
I  will  reason  with  you.  Was  not  the  Messiah 
promised  to  the  Fathers  ?  And  did  not  the 
faithful  of  all  ages  '  REJOICE'  to  see  his  day, 
even  afar  off?  But,  if  he  came  only  to  teach 
and  exemplify  VIRTUE,  what  benefit  could  they 
derive  from  his  work  ?  They  expected  benefit 
from  his  mission,  and  died  iu  the  faith  of  reap- 
ing its  blessings  ;  but  if  these  consist  in  his 


THE    MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS.  19'l 

EXAMPLE,  they  rejoiced  without  cause  ;  for  all 
the  influence  of  an  example,  however  good, 
extends  only  forward,  not  backward.  On  your 
principles,  therefore,  the  Fathers  had  neither 
part  nor  lot  in  the  mission  of  Christ" 

"True,  Azur:  but  if  the  Fathers  needed 
neither  part  nor  lot  in  it,  what  follows  ?" 

"  If  they  did  not !  Zalmon,  are  you  or  they 
the  best  judge  of  thek  need?  If  their  guilt, 
and  their  sense  of  it,  be  judged  from  the  number 
of  their  sin-offerings,  their  need  of  salvation 
was  absolute.  Besides,  they  looked  beyond 
the  sacrifices  to  the  atonement  typfied  by 
them ;  and  thus  avowed  their  need  of  a 
Divine  propitiation.  In  a  word,  they  expected 
the  Lamb  of  God  to  take  away  their  sin  by 
the  sacrifice  of  himself." 

"  PROVE  that,  Azur,  and  I  will  vie  with 
you  in  glorying  only  in  the  Cross.  But  the 
Fathers  were  in  Paradise  before  the  Lamb 
was  slain.  Their  spirits  were  carried  by  angels 
into  Abraham's  bosom  as  they  departed.  They 
were,  therefore,  saved  without  the  atonement," 


192  THE    MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS. 

"  No,  Zalmon  ;  they  were  saved  before  it, 
but  not  without  it.  What  saith  the  Scriptures  ? 
*  God  hath  set  forth  (Christ  Jesus)  to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  declare 
his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that 
are  PAST,  through  the  forbearance  of  God.' 
Here,  past  sins  refer  not  only  to  the  former 
sins  of  living  believers,  but  also  to  the  sins  of 
all  believers  under  the  first  covenant :  for  the 
death  of  Christ  declares  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  forbearing  and  forgiving  them.  The 
faithful  of  former  ages  were,  therefore,  justified 
and  glorified,  in  virtue  of  Christ's  pledge  to  die 
for  them  at  the  fulness  of  time.  On  that 
ground  they  were  admitted  into  heaven  when 
they  died  ;  but  their  l  eternal  inheritance'  was 
not  confirmed  until  his  '  death  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  transgressions  under  the  first  testa- 
ment.' Thus  the  Atonement  had  a  retrospec- 
tive influence  of  the  same  kind  as  its  present 
and  prospective  influence.  And,  that  the 
Fathers  expected  this,  yea,  calculated  upon  it, 
is  self-evident  from  all  the  prophets.  They 


THE    MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS.  193 

taught  the  Church  to  realize  the  sufferings  of 
Christ  at  the  sacrifice  for  her  sins ;  and  to 
speak  as  if  the  Lamb  had  been  '  slain  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world.'  '  He  was  wounded 
for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for  our 
iniquities  :  surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs  and 
carried  our  sorrows.'  Thus  they  both  felt  their 
need  of  an  atonement,  and  knew  that  it  would 
be  made  for  them.  It  has  been  made  ;  and  since 
that  moment,  the  Old  Testament  saints  have 
*  sung  a  NEW  Song'  in  heaven,  saying  with  a 
loud  voice — '  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  for  us.' " 

"  AZUR,  if  your  views  of  the  sacrifices  be 
right,  your  system  is  as  harmonious  as  it  is 
sublime.  My  scheme,  I  must  confess,  does 
not  agree  with  the  whole  word  of  God.  The 
sacrifices,  especially,  are  not  duly  explained 
by  it." 

"  Explained  by  it,  Zalmon !  they  are  utterly 
useless  in  it.  And  yet  that  they  were  of  Divine 
appointment,  is  self-evident ;  for  neither  reason 
nor  superstition  could  have  suggested  them, 


194  THE    MARYS    AT   THE   CROSS. 

And  then,  no  act  of  worship  was  ever  so 
signally  honoured  with  the  Divine  approbation 
as  sacrifice.  '  The  cloud  of  glory*  travelled 
from  altar  to  altar,  like  the  sun  through  the  signs 
of  the  Zodiac,  irradiating  and  ratifying  them  all, 
But,  on  your  principles,  the  high  solemnities 
of  sacrificature,  which  thus  charmed  and  chain- 
ed down  the  Sheckinah  to  the  earth,  were 
neither  useful  nor  instructive  !  '  To  the  Law 
and  the  Testimony,'  Zalmon ;  and  since  your 
philosophers  '  speak  not  according  to  these/ 
depend  on  it,  '  there  is  no  light  in  them,'  Patri- 
archism,  Judaism,  and  Christianity,  unite  in 
confirming  the  Divine  maxim,  that  '  without 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sins.' 
There  is,  therefore,  nothing  between  us  and 
hell,  but  the  BLOOD  OF  THE  LAMB." 

"  If  such  be  the  fact,  Azur,  God  be  merciful 
to  me  a  sinner !  And  *  God  forbid  that  I 
should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ ' " 

"  AMEN,  Zalmon,  and  Amen !  You  will 
now  visit  Calvary,  as  the  Marys  did  after  the 
Resurrection.  They  neither  saw  its  glories, 


THE    MARYS    AT    THE    CROSS.  195 

nor  understood  its  solemnities,  on  the  day  of 
the  Crucifixion.  I  often  think  with  what 
different  feelings  they  stood  at  the  Cross,  when 
they  knew  it  to  be  the  ALTAR  of  Eternal  Re- 
demption !  Then,  how  all  they  had  seen  and 
heard  on  the  great  day  of  atonement  would 
rise  upon  them  in  forms  of  supernal  majesty 
and  supreme  glory !  Yes  ;  and  I  find,  like 
them,  that  my  first  visit  was  not  my  best.  I 
feel  ashamed  of  my  first  appreciations  of  the 
Sacrifice  of  Christ ;  they  were  so  vague.  And 
still  I  have  much  to  learn !" 


No.  VI. 

THE  MARYS   AT  THE   SEPULCHRE. 

PAUL,  when  enumerating  the  successive 
manifestations  of  Christ  to  the  disciples,  by 
which  "many  infallible  proofs"  of  the  truth 
of  the  Resurrection  were  given,  adds  with 
great  emphasis,  "  Last  of  all,  he  was  seen  of 
me."  If  Mary  of  Magdala  lived  long  enough 
to  hear  or  read  this  exclamation,  how  naturally 
and  emphatically  she  must  have  exclaimed, 
"  First  of  all,  He  was  seen  of  me"  It  is  not 
improbable  that  both  she  and  the  other  female 
witnesses  of  the  Resurrection,  did  live  to  read 
or  hear  St.  Paul's  personal  testimony  to  this 
great  truth.  How,  then,  do  you  think,  did 
they  approve  of  being  left  out  of  the  list  of 
witnesses  by  Paul  ;  seeing  they  were  the  first 
persons  to  whom  the  Saviour  "  showed  himself 


MARYS   AT    THE   SEPULCHRE.       19? 

alive  ?"  The  four  Evangelists  had  not  treated 
them  thus,  in  their  Gospels.  In  each  of  the 
Gospels,  the  Marys  are  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  "  great  cloud  of  witnesses,"  which  attest 
the  Resurrection.  Why,  then,  are  they  not  so 
in  the  Epistles  also  ?  Obviously,  because  it 
would  have  been  no  kindness  to  the  Marys, 
whatever  honour  it  might  have  been  to  them  : 
for,  as  Paul's  Epistles  were  chiefly  addressed 
to  Gentile  Churches,  and  as  persecution  raged 
in  Judea  at  the  time,  any  reference  to  the 
Marys,  or  to  the  women  of  Galilee,  as  the  first 
witnesses,  might  have  drawn  more  visiters 
around  them  than  they  could  conveniently,  or 
wisely,  or  safely  welcome.  Thus  both  their 
character  and  their  life  might  have  been  periled, 
had  their  names  been  made  as  public  and  im- 
perishable in  the  Epistles,  as  they  were  in  the 
Gospels.  Paul's  silence  was,  therefore,  the 
shield  of  their  holy  reputation,  and  of  their  pre- 
carious life.  Both  these  were  hazarded  quite 
enough,  by  the  publicity  and  popularity  which 
their  names  had  acquired  in  Judea 


198        THE   MARYS    AT    THE    SEPULCHRE. 

Besides,  you  can  easily  conceive,  from  their 
character  and  spirit,  how  they  would  count  it 
honour  enough,  for  them,  to  have  seen  the 
Lord  "  first,"  even  if  there  had  been  no  notice 
taken  of  the  fact  by  the  Evangelists.  The 
sweet  consciousness,  that  His  first  appearance 
was  to  them ;  that  His  first "  All  hail"  of  welcome 
was  to  them  ;  that  His  first  smile,  after  the  sor- 
rows of  death,  beamed  on  them  ;  and  that  His 
first  words,  after  the  silence  of  the  grave,  were 
.addressed  to  them  :  this,  all  this,  must  have 
been  joy  unspeakable  arid  inexhaustible.  The 
Marys  could  no  more  forget  it,  or  be  unsatisfied 
with  it,  than  the  Angels  who  rolled  away  the 
stone  from  the  sepulchre,  and  wrapped  up  the 
linen  clothes  within,  can  cease  to  remember  or 
to  enjoy  the  high  honour  bestowed  on  them, 
when  thus  permitted  to  minister  to  Christ,  as 
He  rose  from  the  dead.  Such  honour  had  not  all 
the  angels  of  God  then.  They  were  all  allowed 
to  worship  the  Son  alike,  when  God  brought 
•"  in  the  First-Begotten  into  the  world :"  but 
«vhen  He  "  brought  Him  again  from  the  dead, 


THE    MARYS    AT   THE    SEPULCHRE.         199 

by  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,"  only 
"  two  Angels"  were  admitted  to  witness,  or 
worship,  or  serve,  on  that  august  occasion. 

It  would  be  an  equally  useless  and  fruitless 
inquiry,  to  ask  why  this  honour  was  confined 
to  so  few  of  the  angels,  or  why  it  was  conferred 
upon  these  two :  it  is  not,  however,  useless  to 
inquire  why  the  Saviour  shewed  himself  first 
to  the  Marys,  when  he  arose  from  the  dead. 
This  was  a  marked  preference,  and,  therefore, 
it  must  have  had  practical  reasons,  whether  we 
can  discover  them  all  or  not. 

The  great  general  reason  for  this  preference 
is  to  be  found  in  the  condition  of  the  SEX  at 
large,  at  the  time.  They  had,  then,  neither 
that  place  in  the  Church,  nor  that  rank  in 
society,  which  they  now  enjoy.  Male  and  fe- 
male were  not  "one,"  in  Moses,  as  they  are 
now  "  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus  :"  for,  although 
women  were  not  exactly  without  a  name  or  a 
place  in  the  Jewish  Church,  they  had  not  equal 
privileges  with  men.  They  were  not,  indeed, 
-"outer  court"  worshippers  at  the  Temple. 


2t)0       THE  MARYS  AT  THE   SEPULCHRE* 

Their  place  in  the  sacred  area  was  both  higher 
and  nearer  to  the  symbols  of  the  Divine  Pre- 
sence in  the  Sanctuary,  than  "the  court  of  the 
Gentiles :"  still,  it  was  fifteen  steps  lower  than 
the  inner  court,"  where  the  temple  and  the  altar 
stood,  and  where  all  the  males  appeared  before 
God  in  Zion.  Thus,  although  they  were  not 
kept  so  "  far  off"  as  the  Gentiles,  from  the  sight 
and  hearing  of  public  worship,  they  were  not 
permitted  literally  to  draw  "  so  nigh  unto  God" 
as  their  Fathers,  Husbands,  or  even  their  bro- 
thers did.  Indeed,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  they 
were  treated  at  the  Temple  very  much  as  Jew- 
ish women  are  now  in  the  Synagogue  :  placed 
where  they  could  hardly  see  or  be  seen. 

This  arbitrary  and  degrading  arrangement 
was  not,  however,  of  Divine  appointment. 
This  invidious  distinction  did  not  exist  in  the 
time  of  Solomon,  nor  even  so  early  as  the 
reign  of  Manasseh.  Then  there  were  only  two 
courts  :  "  the  court  of  the  priest,"  and  "  the 
great  court."  The  place  called  "  the  court  of 
the  women,"  in  the  second  Temple  of  Jerusa- 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE.    201 

lem,  was  no  more  "  according  to  the  pattern 
shown  on  the  mount,"  than  are  the  latticed 
galleries  of  the  great  Synagogue  of  London, 
Judaism,  as  God  gave  it  to  Moses,  did  not, 
indeed,  place  women  altogether  upon  an  equa- 
lity with  men,  even  "  in  things  appertaining  to 
God ;"  but  still,  it  did  not  degrade  them  ex- 
actly, deeply  as  it  subordinated  them. 

It  was  in  reference,  therefore,  to  a  twofold 
subordination  of  the  sex,  that  the  Saviour  had 
to  take  effectual  measures  for  making  male 
and  female  "  all  one  in  Himself."  He  had 
to  do  something  for  women,  which  should  at 
once  emancipate  them  from  human  imposi- 
tions, and  equalize  them  in  Divine  privileges. 
And  what  so  effectual  for  this  twofold  purpose, 
as  showing  "  Himself  alive  after  his  Passion," 
to  women  first  ?  He  thus  made  the  Marys 
apostles,  even  to  the  Apostles  themselves! 
After  this  crowning  distinction,  what  Minister 
or  Church  of  Christ,  could  doubt  whether 
"  daughters  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty,"  were 
not  joint-heirs  with  His  sons,  in  all  the  spi- 


202      THE     MARYS    AT    THE    SEPULCHRE. 

ritual  heritage  of  Christianity  ?  Thus  the  Sa- 
viour's treatment  of  the  Marys  had  a  reason 
beyond  themselves.  He  treated  them  as  the 
representatives  of  their  sex  :  none  of  whom 
appear  to  have  been  amongst  his  public  enemies 
either  during  his  life  or  at  his  crucifixion.  This 
is  a  remarkable  fact.  Even  Pilate's  wife  warned 
her  husband  on  the  judgment-seat,  to  have 
nothing  to  do  against  "  that  just  person,"  as  she 
called  Christ.  In  like  manner,  the  multitude 
of  women  who  followed  the  Saviour  from  the 
city  to  Calvary,  instead  of  joining  with  the 
men  in  the  cry  of  "  Crucify  him,"  '*  bewailed 
and  lamented  him."  Indeed,  there  is  no  in- 
stance of  any  female  offering  any  public  indig- 
nity to  Christ,  whilst  he  was  upon  earth.  What 
the  private  feelings  of  the  Mothers  and  Daugh- 
ters of  Jerusalem  were  towards  Him,  I  do  not 
know,  of  course :  but,  judging  from  the  kind 
notice  He  took  of  their  kindly  sympathy,  when 
he  was  led  forth  amidst  the  clamour  and  exe- 
crations of  the  Jews  to  be  crucified,  I  am  cer- 
tainly inclined  to  regard  his  conduct  to  the 


THE    MARYS    AT   THE 

tf  %,      <  -  K 

Marys  as  an  acknowledgment  of  that  sym- 
pathy, and  thus  as  a  token  of  special  good- 
will to  their  sex,  as  well  as  to  themselves. 
Luke  xxiii.  27,  31.  It  was  also  emphatically 
"  good  will  to  man !"  But  for  this  signal 
honour,  women  would  have  been  kept  down 
both  in  the  church  and  society ;  and  that  sub- 
ordination would  have  weakened  the  Church, 
and  hindered  the  progress  of  all  the  best 
charms  and  charities  of  social  life. 

He  is  but  a  superficial  observer,  who  sees 
in  the  superior  education  of  females  now,  or  in 
the  advanced  civilization  of  men,  enough  to 
account  for  the  high  and  hallowed  influence  of 
Christian  wives,  mothers,  and  daughters,  upon 
the  morals  and  religion  of  the  age.  Both  these 
causes  of  improvement  are  themselves  the  effect 
of  Christ's  bringing  male  and  female  equally 
nigh  unto  God  by  the  blood  of  the  cross,  and 
of  making  them  all  one  in  himself:  and  the 
proof — the  demonstration — the  seal  of  this, 
was  given  in  His  appearing  to  ^vvomen  first. 
His  "  ALL  HAIL,"  to  the  Marys,  began  and  led 


204   THE  MARYS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 

to  all  the  holy  consideration  in  which  the  sex 
are  now  held,  and  all  the  holy  influence  which 
they  now  exercise.  The  impulse  which  ori- 
ginated both  was  given  in  the  Arimathearv 
garden.  That  gaiden  was  the  Eden  in  which 
woman  was  made  again  a  spiritual  "  help- 
meet" for  man  :  the  Paradise  in  which  the 
Adams  and  Eves  of  the  new  creation  were 
made  "  heirs  together"  of  the  grace  of  Eternal 
Life.  Yes ;  out  of  this  fact,  however  much 
overlooked  or  forgotten  now,  arose  all  the  spi- 
ritual fellowship,  and  united  co-operation  for 
good,  which  has  either  blessed  or  beautified 
the  world  and  the  Church  since. 

Men,  Fathers,  and  Brethren ! — ye  would 
not  have  raised  "  the  daughters  of  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  to  sit  together  with  you  in 
heavenly  places  with  Christ  Jesus,"  had  not 
Christ  Jesus  himself  handed  them  up,  and 
placed  them  at  your  very  side  in  all  the  ordi- 
nances and  immunities  of  the  Church.  Ye  are 
not,  indeed,  displeased  with  this  equality,  now 
that  it  is  established.  Ye  would  not  alter  nor 


THE  MARYS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE.    205 

disturb  it  now,  on  any  account.  Ye  are  even 
delighted  with  it.  Ye  would  not,  however, 
have  felt  thus,  nor  would  this  equality  have 
taken  place,  had  not  Christ,  by  his  first  act 
when  he  rose  from  the  dead,  given  a  deathless 
distinction  to  women.  The  husbands  and  fa- 
thers of  that  age  had  not  all  the  honourable 
feelings  of  this  age.  They  were  not  without 
"  natural  affection  ;"  but  their  religious  pre- 
judices checked  its  current.  Even  when  con- 
jugal and  parental  love  was  tenderest,  it  did 
not  admit  the  idea  of  spiritual  equality  in  the 
Church  on  earth,  nor  the  sweet  hope  of  perfect 
equality  in  heaven.  It  was  Christianity  that 
introduced  the  present  habit  of  thinking  and 
feeling :  and  it  was  the  example  of  Christ,  ra- 
tified by  the  first  "  All  hail"  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, that  gave  effect  to  the  claims  which 
Christianity  advanced  on  behalf  of  women. 

All  this  may  seem  only  a  curious  specula- 
tion to  some  men  ;  but  to  this  all  men  owe 
whatever  was  influential  in  the  piety  of  their 
mothers.     Yes,  young  Man !  your  mother  could 
13 


206      THE    MARYS    AT    THE    SEPULCHRE. 

not  have  had  all  her  sweet  influence  over  you, 
even  in  early  life,  had  she  not  held,  in  public 
opinion,  as  near  and  dear  a  place  to  the  heart 
of  God  and  the  Lamb,  as  your  father  did,  if  he 
also  was  pious.  It  was  her  equality  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  in  both  worlds,  that  made 
her  maternal  love  as  powerful  as  paternal  law. 
Thus  had  she  stood  lower  than  her  husband  on 
the  scale  of  spiritual  and  eternal  privileges, 
you  would  not  have  risen  very  high  on  the 
scale  of  moral  superiority,  nor  sunk  so  seldom 
as  you  have  done. 

O,  what  does  not  the  Church  of  Christ  owe 
to  pious  Mothers !  When  I  consider  how 
little  the  generality  of  even  godly  fathers  do,  in 
order  to  train  up  their  children  in  the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  I  cannot  but  see 
that  the  breast  of  the  Saviour  was  first  full, 
and  first  warm,  after  death,  with  the  mighty 
— the  gracious — the  wise  purpose  of  creating 
for  mothers  paramount  motives,  and  opportu- 
nities, and  influences  for  making  the  lambs  of 
their  family  the  sheep  of  His  fold.  He  fore- 


THE    MARYS    AT   THE   SEPULCHRE.     207 

saw  how  much  would  depend  on  maternal  in- 
fluence, and  how  much  fathers  would  both 
leave  to  it,  and  throw  upon  it ;  and,  therefore, 
His  first  act  when  he  rose  from  the  dead,  as 
the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls,  was  to  put 
honour  upon  his  female  disciples.  Mothers  ! 
you  are  sure  now  that  it  is  no  strain  of  com- 
pliment to  the  sex,  which  has  run  through 
this  chapter.  You  see  now  that  I  have  not 
been  expanding  an  incident  into  a  system.  I 
have,  indeed,  brought  forward  your  rights  and 
privileges  from  a  point  in  the  history  of  Christ, 
at  which  they  are  not  usually  exhibited  or 
pleaded:  but  I  have  done  this  because  it  is 
the  true  point,  and  the  public  act  towards  wo- 
men, by  which  He  gave  triumphant  effect  in 
the  Church  to  all  the  claims  of  his  female  dis- 
ciples. Whilst,  therefore,  I  congratulate  you 
upon  your  equal,  and  equally  well  chartered, 
privileges  in  the  Christian  Church  on  earth 
and  in  heaven,  I  remind  you  that  you  are  thus 
blessed,  that  ye  may  be  blessings ;  that  your 
responsibility  is  equal  to  your  high  calling  in 


208     THE    MARYS    AT    THE    SEPULCHRE. 

Christ  Jesus,  and  to  your  joint-heirship  in  his 
kingdom  and  glory. 

I  have  not  forgotten,  whilst  explaining  the 
grand  general  reason  of  the  honour  conferred 
on  the  Marys,  that  their  own  character  and 
spirit  furnish  explanations  of  the  preference 
thus  shown  to  them.  The  well  known  fact, 
that  they  were  the  last  at  the  Cross,  and  the 
first  at  the  Sepulchre,  ought  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. It  is  not,  however,  the  only  fact 
which  seems  to  have  influenced  the  Saviour's 
conduct  towards  them.  They  had  both  sat  at 
his  feet,  and  followed  him  in  the  regeneration 
of  life,  long  and  often,  before  his  passion  be- 
gan. From  the  time  they  were  called  by  his 
grace,  until  all  his  temporal  wants  ceased, 
they  had  "  ministered  unto  him  of  their  sub- 
stance," and  been  his  prompt  and  willing  ser- 
vants. During  his  ministry,  they  were  at 
once  his  aptest  scholars,  and  his  firmest  ad- 
herents. In  a  word,  we  never  hear  of  them 
taking  any  offence  at  his  doctrme,  or  giving  way 
to  either  the  fiery  or  ambitious  spirit  which, 


THE    MARYS    AT    THE    SEPULCHRE.        209 

occasionally,  betrayed  the  Apostles.  This  uni- 
form fidelity  and  consistency  were  not  likely 
to  be  overlooked  by  the  Saviour,  when  he  rose 
from  the  dead.  He  who  accepted,  and  even 
rewarded  openly,  the  dying  testimony  which  the 
penitent  thief  bore  to  His  innocence,  was  sure 
to  honour  those  holy  women,  who  had  so  long 
and  so  closely  identified  themselves  with  His 
cause  and  character.  And  He  did.  Whilst 
He  only  returned  sympathy  for  sympathy  to 
the  "  daughters  of  Jerusalem,"  who  only  began 
to  weep  when  His  woes  began,  he  mani- 
fested himself  to  the  Marys  in  the  garden,  the 
moment  he  parted  from  the  angels  in  the  Se- 
pulchre. They  were  the  first  admitted  to  wor- 
ship at  His  feet,  and  enjoy  His  presence,  after 
the  Angels  had  finished  their  homage  and 
services. 

Is  there  no  practical  lesson  taught  by  this 
historical  fact  ?  Does  it  illustrate  no  experi- 
mental fact  ?  ORIGIN  says  "  God  hates  the 
man  who  thinks,  that  any  of  his  holidays  lasts 
but  one  day."  He  means,  that  the  man  who 
18* 


210   THE  MARYS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 

thinks  of  the  Crucifixion  only  on  Good  Fri- 
day, or  of  the  Resurrection  only  on  Easter- 
Sunday,  can  neither  please  God,  nor  profit 
himself,  by  his  devotions.  You  readily  admit 
this  to  be  true.  Well,  it  is  equally  true,  that 
they  have  not  much  of  the  presence  of  Christ 
in  public  ordinances,  and  are  never  sure  of 
enjoyment  even  at  the  Sacrament,  who  try  not 
to  walk  with  God  during  the  week,  as  well 
as  to  wait  on  Him  upon  the  Sabbath.  When- 
ever there  is  heartless  prayer  in  the  closet 
from  day  to  day,  there  will  be  no  heart-felt 
praise  in  the  sanctuary ;  because  no  such  com- 
munications of  grace,  nor  any  such  hold  of  the 
Cross,  as  will  tune  the  heart  to  the  joy  of  peni- 
tential grief,  or  to  the  joy  of  a  good  hope  of 
Salvation.  Only  Marys  who  follow  Christ 
through  the  week,  are  sure  to  meet  with  Christ 
on  the  Sabbath.  His  salutation,  "  All  Hail," 
is  now  awarded  most  frequently  to  those  who 
serve  him  most  faithfully. 

It  is  also  in  fine  and  full  harmony  with  all 
just  views    of  both    Christ  arid    Religion,   to 


THE   MARYS   AT   THE    SEPULCHRE.      211 

reckon  that  He  was  much  influenced  in  his 
treatment  of  the  Marys,  by  their  sacred  regard 
to  the  Sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  and  by  their 
rising  so  early  to  visit  his  sepulchre.  During 
His  life,  he  had  set  them  an  example  both  of 
keeping  "  The  holy  of  the  Lord  honourable," 
and  of  early  rising.  It  was  "  His  custom"  to 
go  to  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and 
to  go  "  early  in  the  morning"  to  the  temple. 
This  the  Marys  knew,  and  imitated.  Not  all 
their  sorrow  or  desolation,  arising  from  His 
death  and  burial,  was  allowed  by  them  to  set 
aside  their  Sabbatic  duties.  They  returned 
from  His  grave,  "  arid  rested  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  according  to  the  commandment."  That 
commandment  made  no  provision  nor  gave 
any  warrant,  for  finishing  the  funeral  obse- 
quies even  of  Christ,  although  he  was  "  the 
Lord  of  the  Sabbath  :"  and  the  Marys  did  not 
venture  to  take  a  liberty  which  the  law  did 
not  allow.  This  was  not  Jewish  strictness. 
They  only  did  right.  Nothing  but  works  of 
necessity  or  of  mercy  are  lawful  on  the  Sab- 


212   THE  MARYS  AT  THE  SEPULCHRE. 

bath  day :  arid  the  completion  of  the  Saviour's 
funeral  was  neither.  It  was  no  work  of  ne- 
cessity :  for  even  if  His  sacred  body  could 
have  "  seen  corruption,"  there  was  more  than 
enough  of  embalming  spices  around  it  to  pre- 
vent all  danger.  It  was  not  a  work  of  mercy  : 
for  that  body  could  no  longer  suffer,  and  was 
exposed  to  no  insult. 

How  this  example  should  influence  your 
Sabbatic  habits  and  spirit !  For,  if  the  Marys 
would  not  finish  the  rites  of  Sepulture  on  the 
day  of  holy  rest,  even  in  the  case  of  the  Sav- 
iour, what  likeness  to  them  do  those  women 
bear,  who  can  finish  a  dress,  or  pay  a  visit,  or 
take  a  jaunt  of  pleasure,  on  that  sacred  day  ? 


No.  VII. 

PARTIALITIES    IN   HOLINESS. 

"  I  HAVE  heard  and  read  a  great  deal  (said 
one)  about  the  nature  and  necessity  of  evan- 
gelical holiness,  and  about  the  only  way  of 
acquiring  it ;  but,  except  in  my  Bible,  I  have 
met  with  nothing  expressly  on  'THE  BEAUTY 
OF  HOLINESS.'  There,  however,  almost  as 
much  is  said  about  its  beauty  and  loveliness, 
as  upon  its  necessity.  Holiness  is  as  much 
commended  as  it  is  enforced,  in  the  Word  of 
God ;  and  invariably  represented,  as  being 
equally  desirable  and  essential.  Now,  although 
I  certainly  do  not  see  clearly  what  could  be 
said  on  the  beauty  of  holiness,  that  would  help 
me  to  follow  holiness  more  fully  and  willingly, 
I  do  both  see  and  feel,  that  something  more 
than  even  a  deep  sense  of  its  necessity,  is  re- 


214  PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS. 

quisite  in  order  to  this.  I  find  that  it  is  only 
in  as  far  as  I  really  love  or  admire  true  holi- 
ness, that  I  follow  it  cheerfully.  A  sense  of 
duty,  or  an  apprehension  of  danger,  leads  me, 
certainly,  farther  in  well-doing,  than  love  would 
always  carry  me  :  but  still,  1  do  those  things 
most  and  best,  which  I  love  as  well  as  revere. 
Alas,  I  do  nothing  as  it  ought  to  be  done ! 
There  is,  however,  a  better  and  a  worse  in  my 
obedience  ;  and  the  best  parts  of  it  are  those 
duties  which  commend  themselves  to  my  heart 
by  their  loveliness,  as  well  as  to  my  conscience 
by  their  authority.  I  want,  therefore,  to  see 
all  duty  in  this  light ;  that  I  may  choose  it  for 
its  own  sake,  as  well  as  submit  to  it  because  it 
cannot  be  safely  neglected." 

Perhaps,  you  have  thought  and  felt  thus, 
when  observing  how  much  more  pleasure  you 
take  in  some  duties  than  in  others.  You  must 
have  noticed,  at  times,  the  very  great  difference 
there  is  between  the  spirit  in  which  you  dis- 
charge the  duties  you  really  love,  and  the 
spirit  in  which  you  yield  to  those  you  are  only 


PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS.  215 

afraid  to  neglect.  In  general  you  are  "  glad1'' 
when  it  is  said  to  you,  "  let  us  go  up  to  the 
house  of  the  Lord  :"  but  not  always  glad  when 
both  Conscience  and  the  Holy  Spirit  join  in 
saying,  "  enter  thy  closet,  and  shut  thy  door 
and  pray  to  the  Father  who  seeth  in  secret." 
Even  the  assurance,  "  He  shall  reward  thee 
openly,"  does  not  always  charm  you  into  your 
closet,  even  when  you  cannot  exactly  plead 
the  want  of  time  to  go.  In  like  manner,  you 
can  in  general  say  from  the  heart,  "  How 
amiable,  are  thy  Tabernacles,  O  Lord  God  of 
hosts."  The  house  of  God  presents  itself  often 
to  your  mind,  in  the  course  of  the  week,  as  the 
very  gate  of  Heaven.  Its  oracles  and  ordi- 
nances, its  worship  and  fellowship,  with  their 
sweet  influences  and  holy  associations,  rise  up 
before  you  in  the  world,  as  they  did  before 
David  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  vision  so  bright 
and  lovely,  that  you  feel  something  of  his  holy 
impatience  to  "  appear  before  God  in  Zion." 
Thus  you  do  not  say  nor  think  of  the  Sabbath, 
— "  What  a  weariness  it  is !  when  will  it  be 


216  PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

over  ?"  You  do  not,  in  general,  feel  like  Doeg 
in  the  temple,  "detained  before  the  Lord." 
But  not  so  often  in  this  fine  spirit,  do  you  an- 
ticipate or  improve  your  return  to  the  closet 
and  the  family  altar.  And  yet,  you  love  them 
more  and  better  than  some  other  duties.  They 
also  present  themselves  frequently,  as  gates  of 
Heaven  too.  On  a  bright  morning,  when  the 
sun  fills  the  house,  as  with  the  glory  of  the  old 
Sheckinah,  how  exhilarating  it  is  to  bow 
around  the  family  altar,  offering  "  the  morning 
sacrifice  ?"  And  on  a  stormy  night,  or  when 
wearisome  nights  are  before  us,  how  soothing 
it  is  to  join  in  "  the  evening  sacrifice  ;"  casting 
all  our  care  upon  Him  who  careth  for  us  ? 
And  not  less  exhilarating  to  our  spirit,  is  the 
closet  of  secret  prayer,  when  our  tbirst  for 
communion  with  God  is  ardent ;  nor  less 
soothing,  when  our  cares  and  fears  are  op- 
pressive. Thus  there  is  attraction,  as  well  as 
obligation,  in  the  duty  of  prayer.  If  the  law 
of  devotion  drive  us  occasionally  to  both  the 
domestic  and  the  solitary  altar,  the  cords  of 


PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS,  217 

love,  or  the  magnets  of  conscious  want  and 
weakness,  draw  us  habitually.  We  need  law : 
but  we  see  beauty,  and  taste  happiness,  and 
sometimes  lose  the  sense  of  duty  in  the  sensa- 
tions of  delight,  whilst  drawing  nigh  unto  God. 
Nothing,  perhaps,  is  more  gratifying  to  us,  than 
the  prevalence  of  a  truly  devotional  spirit  in 
the  sanctuary  and  the  closet.  We  welcome  it 
as  a  token  for  good,  and  reckon  it  an  unequi- 
vocal mark  of  grace.  Whilst  we  delight  in 
prayer,  we  cease  to  doubt  the  genuineness  of 
our  faith,  and  are  not  tempted  to  question  the 
reality  of  our  conversion. 

Now  all  this  is  as  it  should  be.  We  cannot 
attach  too  much  importance  to  a  devotional 
spirit,  nor  be  too  watchful  to  preserve  it :  for 
when  this  evidence  of  personal  piety  declines, 
every  other  passes  under  an  eclipse,  which  so 
darkens  them  all,  that  we  are  unable  or  afraid 
to  trace  our  connexion  with  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness. We  actually  lose  His  light,  when 
we  lose  our  relish  for  prayer.  That  relish  is, 
however,  more  frequently  lost  or  impaired  by 
19 


218  PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS. 

not  cultivating  an  equal  relish  for  some  other 
duties,  than  by  the  indulgence  of  sloth  or  for* 
mality.  We  are  oftener  thrown  out  of  the* 
spirit  of  prayer,  by  giving  way  to  wrong  tem- 
pers, than  by  growing  weary  of  regular  habits. 
Fits  of  ill-humour,  whether  fiery  or  sulky, 
keep  us  out  of  the  closet  whilst  they  last,  and 
make  us  afraid  to  enter  it  even  when  they  are 
over.  Hence  the  necessity  of  attaching  almost 
as  much  importance  to  "  a  meek  and  quiet  spi- 
rit," as  to  a  devotional  spirit.  The  former,  as- 
well  as  the  latter,  is  an  "  ornament  of  great 
price  in  the  sight  of  God ;"  and  ought,  there- 
fore, to  be  equally  lovely  in  our  estimation. 
But,  how  few  see  so  much  moral  beauty  in 
self-control,  or  in  a  meek  spirit,  as  in  a  devo- 
tional spirit !  And  yet,  we  all  know  well,  that 
devotion  is  neither  heavenly  nor  pleasing  when 
we  are  angry  or  peevish.  Were  it,  therefore, 
only  for  the  sake  of  serenity  and  holy  freedom 
in  the  closet,  we  ought  to  study  the  beauty  of 
a  holy  temper  so  closely,  that  we  could  no  more 
leave  our  humours,  than  our  habits,  to  accident ; 


PARTIALITIES   IN  HOLINESS.  219 

and  no  more  risk  the  consequences  of  an  unruly 
or  hasty  spirit,  than  of  a  defiled  conscience. 
Indeed,  for  every  purpose,  whether  practical 
or  devotional,  we  ought  to  regard  good  temper 
as  being  as  truly  a  mark  of  grace,  as  good  ha- 
bits, or  gracious  feelings.  It  is,  in  all  its  forms, 
*'  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit."  Accordingly,  "  long- 
suffering,  gentleness,  and  meekness,"  are  class- 
ed with  "  love,  joy,  peace,  and  faith,"  in  the 
scriptural  enumeration  of  the  special  fruits  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  And,  what  is  equally  to  the 
point,  their  opposites,  "  wrath,  strife,  and  vari- 
ance," in  common  with  heresy,  are  classed  with 
the  worst  works  of  the  flesh.  Gal.  v.  19,  23. 
Were  this  duly  remembered,  we  should  feel,  in 
ruling  our  tongue  and  temper  well,  that  we 
were  as  directly  proving  our  faith  in  Christ, 
and  evincing  our  participation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  when  we  mounted  on  eagles'  wings 
in  devotion,  or  melted  in  love  and  penitence  at 
the  Sacrament.  Yes  ;  and  we  should  both 
soar  and  sing  oftener,  if  we  habitually  tried  to 
possess  our  souls  in  patience  and  equanimity. 


220        PARTIALITIES  IN  HOLINESS. 

But  even  this  is  not  the  duty,  which  has 
"  no  comeliness"  that  commends  it  to  our  taste. 
The  worst  tempered  do  not  admire  passion 
even  in  themselves,  however  they  may  justify 
or  palliate  it  at  times.  They  often  excuse  it, 
but  they  never  praise  it,  nor  pretend  that  it 
makes  them  happy.  Perhaps  no  Christians 
see  so  clearly,  in  one  sense,  the  deformity  of 
ill  temper,  as  those  who  are,  themselves,  very 
irritable.  They  smart  and  suffer  so  much  from 
giving  way  to  it  frequently,  that  they  know 
well  all  its  sad  effects,  however  they  may 
forget  its  sinfulness,  or  try  to  soften  its  guilt,  in 
their  own  case.  Neither  are  they  insensible 
to  the  beauty  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit  in 
others  They  even  wish  they  were  like  them  ; 
and,  if  wishing  could  make  them  so,  they  would 
be  very  glad !  Of  course,  it  never  will :  for  in 
speaking  thus,  they  are  wishing  for  what  no 
one  has  or  can  get  in  this  world, — a  spirit  that 
should  need  neither  ruling  nor  watching  over. 
Grace  to  rule  and  watch  over  their  own  rebel- 
lious spirit,  they  might  obtain  by  turning  their 


PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS.          221 

idle  wishes  into  honest  prayers :  but  even 
prayer  itself,  however  fervent,  will  not  bring 
down  from  heaven  into  any  bosom,  a  spirit 
which  nothing  could  ruffle,  or  which  would  re- 
quire no  looking  after.  There  is  no  such  tem- 
per in  the  universe,  except  in  heaven.  Let  us 
not,  therefore,  amuse  ourselves  by  dreaming 
about  a  lovely  fiction,  nor  deceive  ourselves  by 
imagining  that  those  who  have  an  "  excellent 
spirit,"  are  so  gifted  with  it,  as  to  need  no  self- 
government  nor  painstaking,  in  order  to  excel. 
Those  who  excel  us  most  in  temper,  will  all 
be  found  to  exceed  us  equally  in  watchfulness. 
I  do  not  forget,  whilst  writing  thus,  that 
many  are  good-humoured,  and  even  sweet-tem- 
pered, who  yet  have  no  grace  whatever,  nor  any 
concern  about  it.  In  such  cases,  therefore,  I 
readily  allow,  and  solemnly  affirm,  that  the 
sweetness  of  their  disposition  proves  nothing 
but  the  healthiness  of  their  nervous  system,  or 
the  harmony  of  their  physical  powers,  or  the 
absence  of  provocation.  In  such  females, 
.therefore,  .habitual  gentleness  and  suavity  do 
19* 


£22  PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

not  amount  even  to  moral  principle,  and  are  in 
no  sense  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit.  The  utmost 
and  the  best  which  can  be  said  of  this  happy 
temperament,  is,  that  it  is  an  invaluable  gift  of 
Providence,  very  favourable  to  all  the  duties  of 
life  and  godliness,  and  very  useful  to  society. 
It  ought,  therefore,  to  be  highly  prized  by  all 
who  possess  it :  for  it  is  unquestionably  given 
by  Providence,  as  a  motive  to  seek  grace  ;  and 
thus  it  involves  weighty  responsibilities,  and 
leaves  its  possessors  without  excuse,  if  they 
neglect  the  great  salvation. 

Much  more  responsible  and  inexcusable, 
however,  are  we  who  have  found  some  grace, 
and  hope  for  still  more,  if  we  neglect  our  tem- 
per, or  leave  it  to  accident.  For  if  nature,  when 
unusually  gentle,  bind  to  improvement,  how 
much  grace  confirms  that  obligation !  If  they 
sin  who  spoil  a  fine  natural  disposition  by  ex- 
posing it  unnecessarily  to  temptation,  how 
guilty  are  we  when  we  allow  grace  to  be  de- 
feated by  nature,  just  because  we  did  not  try  to 
rule  our  spirit  at  the  time  ! 


PARTIALITIES   IN   HOLINESS,  223 

It  will  not  do  to  set  off  against  this  neglect, 
the  attention  we  pay  to  the  great  salvation 
itself,  and  to  some  of  the  spiritual  duties  which 
love  to  Christ  involves.  Indeed,  the  more  at- 
tention we  pay  to  them,  the  more  inexcusable 
we  are  when  we  give  way  to  a  wrong  spirit. 
Besides,  we  do  not  attend  to  them,  whilst  the 
fit  of  ill  humour  lasts.  That  which  clouds  our 
brow  or  convulses  our  frame,  hides  both  Divine 
and  eternal  things  from  our  sight,  for  the  time  ; 
and  renders  it  difficult,  even  afterwards,  to  re- 
new clear  and  calm  views  of  them  again.  Thus, 
what  is  really  spiritual  about  us,  is  any  thing 
but  a  set-off  against  what  is  natural.  "  The 
image  of  the  heavenly,"  instead  of  excusing  or 
palliating  "  the  image  of  the  earthy,"  only  ag- 
gravates its  inconsistency,  whenever  that  in- 
consistency is  allowed,  or  not  singled  out  for 
crucifixion. 

Nothing  is  farther  from  the  real  design  of 
:hese  hints,  than  to  set  an  amiable  spirit  above 
a  devotional  spirit.  My  object  is,  to  show 
clearly  how  they  help  each  other,  and  how 


224  PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

much  they  depend  on  each  other;  that  thus 
we  may  be  equally  careful  to  cultivate  both. 
They  are  emphatically,  the  wings  on  which 
the  soul  rises  to  heaven  ;  and  if  either  wing  is 
allowed  to  drop  often,  the  other  will  not  bear 
the  soul  far  nor  frequently  within  the  veil. 
Hence  the  necessity  of  making  Christian  tem- 
per a  matter  of  deliberate  study.  And  I  mean 
by  studying  it,  not  merely  trying  to  rule  your 
spirit  better  than  you  have  done,  nor  even  being 
more  upon  your  guard  than  formerly  ;  imt  also 
contemplating  its  own  native  loveliness,  and  its 
-"  great  price"  in  the  sight  ef  God  and  man,  as 
nn  "  ornament"  of  female  character.  It  must 
be  loved,  in  order  to  be  habitually  attempted. 
But  loved  it  will  not  be,  until  its  own  loveliness 
is  seen  and  felt.  We  must  be  charmed  by  the 
1>eauty  of  this  feature  of  the  Divine  Image,  as 
well  as  charge  ourselves  by  its  authority  or  its 
necessity,  if  we  would  really  abound  in  it. 

This  is  equally  true  in  regard  to  a  forbearing 
and  forgiving  spirit.  The  duty  of  long-suffering 
Binder  injury,  and  the  still  harder  duty  of  both 


PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS.  225 

forgiving  and  forgetting  the  injury,  may  stand 
very  clearly  before  the  mind,  and  even  have 
much  weight  upon  the  conscience.  We  may 
neither  despise  nor  dispute  our  obligation,  to 
bury  in  oblivion  whatever  we  have  suffered 
from  the  hand  or  tongue  of  others  :  and  yet,  all 
our  heart  may  rise  and  writhe  against  the  duty 
of  telling,  or  showing,  the  offenders,  that  we  do 
forgive  and  forget.  Indeed,  we  are  inclined  to 
think  it  quite  enough,  if  God  knows  that  we  are 
trying  to  do  it  in  his  sight.  Nothing,  perhaps, 
is  more  mortifying  than  the  idea  of  making 
known  to  the  offender,  face  to  face,  that  we  have 
got  over  the  offence  :  except,  indeed,  the  idea 
of  confessing  our  own  faults  to  those  whom  we 
have  offended.  Both  duties  are  sadly  against 
the  grain  of  human  nature,  even  where  grace 
has  no  small  influence  upon  the  heart.  Accord- 
ingly, neither  duty  is,  in  general,  well  gone 
through,  even  by  those  who  cannot  be  easy  be- 
fore God  until  their  breaches  with  man  are 
openly  healed. 

Here*  again,  the  failure  in  this  part  of  holi- 


226  PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

ness,  arises  from  not  studying  the  beauty  of  a 
right  spirit.  We  look  at  both  confessing  and 
forgiving,  too  much  in  the  lights  of  this  world, 
or  through  the  eyes  of  others ;  and  thus  come 
to  deem  that  mean-spirited  or  very  weak,  which 
God  reckons  signally  noble  and  peculiarly  lovely. 
Whilst,  therefore,  a  deeper  sense  of  positive 
and  imperative  obligation  to  confess  and  forgive, 
is  of  immense  importance ;  still,  that  alone, 
will  not  lead  to  much  of  either  until  both  are 
admired  for  their  beauty,  as  well  as  admitted 
because  of  their  authority.  We  must  learn  to 
love  these  duties  because  they  are  lovely  in  the 
sight  of  God  ;  and  for  the  sake  of  the  good  they 
create  and  the  mischief  they  prevent,  as  well 
as  for  the  sake  of  the  laws  which  enforce 
them :  for,  otherwise,  we  shall  shrink  from 
them  entirely,  or  perform  them  grudgingly. 

I  have  now  said  quite  enough  to  convince 
you,  that  more  than  regard  to  the  law  of  holi- 
ness, or  than  the  dread  of  the  penal  sanctions 
which  enforce  it,  is  necessary,  in  order  to  a 
cheerful  and  impartial  following  of  holiness 


PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS.  227 

We  must  be  drawn  by  its  silken  cords,  as  well 
as  driven  by  its  knotted  whip  :  for,  otherwise, 
we  shall  not  go  far  enough,  to  make  our  call- 
ing and  election  sure  ;  nor  readily  enough  to 
prove  that  "the  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
us." 

The  grand  question  here,  however,  is,  how 
are  such  winning  views  of  the  beauty  of  Holi- 
ness to  be  acquired,  without  a  degree  of  study 
greater  than  we  have  time  for,  and  deeper 
than  our  talents  can  reach?  Now,  happily, 
the  Ethics  of  Holiness  are  both  few  and  sim- 
ple. Its  chief  reasons  are  founded  upon  what 
God  is,  upon  what  Christ  has  done  for  us,  and 
upon  what  is  obviously  wanted  as  preparation 
for  the  enjoyments  and  engagements  of  Heaven. 

Did  you  ever  observe  how  the  first  of' 
these  reasons  (which  is  the  most  profound)  is 
brought  before  us  in  the  Scriptures  ?  "  As  He 
who  hath  called  you  is  holy,  so  be  ye  holy  in 
all  manner  of  conversation :  because  it  is 
written,  Be  ye  holy,  for  I  am  holy."  1  Pet.il 
15.  Thus  calling  Grace  introduces  commanding 


228  PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

Holiness.  God  appeals  to  what  he  has  done 
for  us,  before  telling  us  all  we  must  be.  What 
is  "  written  to  us  on  the  subject  of  holiness,  is 
founded  upon  what  is  "  wrought"  in  us  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  God  reminds  us  that  he  has  called 
us  by  his  grace,  when  he  invites  us  to  contem- 
plate and  copy  his  holiness.  Thus  He  interests 
our  hearts,  that  he  may  exercise  our  under- 
standing, and  sway  our  conscience,  by  the 
glories  of  his  own  character.  Truly  God  is 
love,  in  the  very  manner  in  which  he  gives  law 
to  his  children ! 

Now  we  fondly  hope  that  what  we  have 
felt  of  the  power  and  sweetness  of  the  Gospel, 
is,  the  gracious  "  calling"  of  God.  We  may 
be  somewhat  afraid  to  say  that  it  is,  positively, 
that  effectual  calling  of  God,  which  is,  "  with- 
out repentance"  on  his  part :  but  we  are  very 
anxious  that  it  may  prove  to  be  so,  and  quite 
sure  that  it  has  been  effectual  for  some  good 
purposes  upon  both  our  hearts  and  habits 
already.  We  may  not  se  3  so  clearly  the  pre- 
cise time  of  our  call,  as  to  be  able,  like  Paul, 


PARTIALITIES    IN    HOLINESS.  229 

to  point  to  the  very  moment  of  our  conversion, 
saying,  "  When  it  pleased  God  to  call  me  by 
his  grace :"  but  we  do  remember  the  time, 
when  we  disliked  godliness,  and  felt  no  need 
of  grace.  We  are  very  glad  that 

"  These  times  are  past  Py 

and  would  not  for  worlds  they  should  re- 
turn ! 

Well ;  the  holiness  of  God  did  not  prevent 
Him  from  calling  us  by  hie  Spirit,  even  whilst 
we  were  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  In 
fact,  it  was  because  He  is  glorious  in  holiness, 
that  the  love  wherewith  he  loved  us  when  he 
quickened  us,  was  so  "rich  in  mercy:"  for 
had  he  not  loved  Holiness  infinitely,  he  would 
never  have  taken  one  step,  nor  made  one 
stoop,  to  make  us  holy.  We  need  not  be 
afraid,  therefore,  to  study  how  holy  the  God 
who  called  us,  is.  Had  he  been  less  holy,  he 
would  not  have  called  us  nor  any  one.  Well, 
therefore,  may  the  harp  of  Judah  be  listened 
to  and  obeyed,  when  it  invites  us  to  "  give 
20 


230          PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

thanks  at  the  remembrance  of  His  holiness  :" 
for  were  not  God  infinitely  and  immutably  holy, 
there  would  be  no  grace  to  give  thanks  for. 

I  mention  this  particularly,  because  it  is  too 
common  to  speak  and  think  only  of  the  love  or 
the  mercy  of  God,  when  gratitude  for  grace  is 
claimed  from  us.  All  grace,  however,  is  given 
for  holy  purposes ;  and,  therefore,  it  ought  to 
lead  out  our  thoughts  to  the  Divine  Holiness 
which  is  the  moral  reason  of  this,  as  well  as  to 
the  Divine  Love  which  is  the  original  fountain 
of  grace.  The  character,  as  well  as  the  heart, 
of  God,  must  be  kept  in  view.  We  have  no 
more  right  to  look  at  the  latter,  apart  from  the 
former,  for  comfort,  than  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel  had  to  look  only  upon  the  breastplate  of 
Aaron  for  their  names,  when  he  interceded  be- 
fore the  Lord.  Their  names  were  also  upon 
the  beryl-stones,  on  his  shoulders.  Thus  they 
were  placed  upon  the  seat  of  authority,  as  well 
as  upon  the  seat  of  sympathy ;  and  borne  where 
government  rested,  as  well  as  where  grace 
reigned.  It  is  in  allusion  to  this,  that  it  is  said 


PARTIALITIES  IN    HOLINESS.  231 

of  Christ,  "  The  government  shall  be  upon  his 
shoulders." 

There  is,  therefore,  something  wrong  in  our 
views,  if  we  are  afraid  to  think  of  the  holiness 
of  God :  and  if  we  dislike  to  think  of  it,  there  is 
much  wrong  in  our  hearts.  Our  dislike  will  not 
move,  however,  until  our  dread  is  removed.  So 
long  as  the  holiness  of  God  presents  any  thing 
to  terrify  us  ;  or  is  regarded  as  an  attribute  which 
is  against  us ;  or  as  an  awful  perfection  which 
would  turn  from  us  with  abhorrence,  were  it 
not  prevented  by  Love  and  Mercy  ;  so  long  we 
shall  not  love  it.  We  cannot  love  the  Holiness 
of  God,  whilst  we  reckon  it  our  enemy,  or  re- 
gard it  as  no  farther  our  friend,  than  just  as  far 
as  the  intercession  of  Christ  keeps  it  from 
breaking  out  upon  us  in  fury. 

This,  alas !  is,  however,  the  ordinary  view 
of  it.  In  this  light,  the  generality  contemplate 
it :  and  therefore  dislike  the  subject.  It  seems 
to  them  to  have  no  "  beauty"  that  they  should 
desire  it.  Do  you  feel  at  all  in  this  way  ?  Does 
the  holiness  of  God  appear  to  you  an  attribute 


232  PARTIALITIES   IN    HOLINESS. 

flashing  rather  with  devouring  fire,  than  with 
soft  splendour  ?  Do  you  look  to  it  only  from 
necessity ;  and  never  from  choice,  except  when 
you  feel  your  need  of  a  strong  check  upon 
yourself  T  Were  you  never  so  charmed  by  the 
beauty  of  Jehovah's  holiness,  as  to  "give 
thanks  at  the  remembrance"  of  it  ?  Can  you 
hardly  imagine  how  you  could  ever  so  get  over 
your  instinctive  dread  of  it,  as  to  delight  in 
thinking  of  it,  or  to  be  capable  of  contempla- 
ting it  with  composure  ?  Does  it  seem  to  you 
impossible  to  be  as  much  charmed  with  the 
holiness  of  God,  as  you  have  been  with  his 
love  and  mercy? 

I  multiply  these  questions,  and  magnify  their 
importance,  just  to  throw  your  thoughts  fully 
off  from  vulgar  opinion,  and  fairly  forth  upon 
the  revealed  character  of  God  in  Christ.  "  In 
the  face  of  Jesus,"  the  brightness  of  the  glory 
of  the  Divine  holiness,  shines  as  mildly  as  the 
softest  radiance  of  any  perfection  you  admire. 

In  order  to  be  convinced  of  this,  you  have 
only  to  ask  yourself  the  single  question — 


PARTIALITIES   IN   HOLINES3.  233 

"Were  God  unholy r,  what  security  would  re- 
main for  the  continuance  of  any  of  his  lovely 
perfections  ?"  Do  you  not  see  at  a  glance,  that 
His  holiness  preserves  them  all  ?  It  is  the 
vital  principle  of  the  Divine  character.  Be- 
cause it  lives — Love,  mercy,  grace,  truth,  and 
wisdom  "live  also." 

But  I  have  gone  so  fully  into  this  subject, 
in  my  little  work  on  "  MANLY  PIETY,"  that  I 
must  leave  you  to  follow  out  the  hint  for  your- 
self ;  for,  in  fact,  I  have  exhausted  all  my  de- 
finite ideas  already. 

20* 


No.  VIII. 


CHRISTIANS  1 


"  REMEMBER  your  rank,  my  Lord,  and 
respect  it,"  said  a  venerable  friend  of  mine, 
(apart)  to  a  young  nobleman,  who  had  so  far 
forgotten  all  that  he  owed  to  his  "  order,"  as 
to  descend  to  vulgar  manners  and  language  in 
the  Mail.  The  deserved  reproof  had  the  de- 
sired effect :  the  young  man  resumed  all  the 
proverbial  urbanity  and  politeness  of  his  high 
station. 

This  is  one  of  the  beneficial  influences  of 
hereditary  and  official  rank:  it  imposes  pro- 
priety on  power.  It  does  not  always  prevent 
vice  ;  but  it  preserves  decorum,  and  enforces 
the  semblance  of  virtue,  in  the  intercourse  of 
society.  When  nobility,  however,  is  enshrined 
with  noble  recollections  of  patriotic  ancestry 


CHRISTIANS   HOLY    TEMPLES.  235 

which  hallow  it  more  than  age,  or  wealth,  or 
heraldry,  more  is  expected  from  it  than  deco- 
rum or  courtesy.  The  descendants  of  the 
champions  and  martyrs  of  both  civil  and  reli- 
gious Liberty,  are  expected  to  breathe  the 
spirit,  as  well  as  wear  the  mantle,  of  the  patriots 
who  immortalized  their  name.  A  Russell, 
Sidney,  or  Hampden,  without  public  spirit  ; 
or  a  WicklifFe,  Ridley,  Cranmer,  Baxter,  or 
Owen,  without  Protestant  spirit,  would  be  an 
anomaly,  equally  unnatural  and  repulsive  to 
the  public  mind  :  for  whilst  "  England  expects 
every  man  to  do  his  duty,"  to  her  sacred 
liberties,  she  calculates  upon  sacrifices,  as  well 
as  duty,  from  the  lineal  representatives  of  "  the 
mighty  dead,"  who  claimed  with  their  voice, 
or  sealed  with  their  blood,  the  charter  of  her 
independence.  Such  associations  are  not, 
however,  the  only  sources  of  honourable  and 
inspiring  feeling,  which  tells  well  upon  the 
interests  of  society  at  large.  Nothing  has 
softened  or  purified  the  intercourse  of  social 
life,  more  than  the  self-respect  of  females.  By 


236  CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES. 

respecting  themselves,  for  the  sake  of  their  sex, 
they  have  won  respect  and  homage.  Their 
moral  influence  has  kept  pace  with  their  moral 
tastes  and  intellectual  character,  and  made 
itself  felt  like  the  fragrance,  in  all  directions  ; 
and  felt  most  when,  like  fragrance-flowers,  they 
seem  unconscious  of  their  own  sweetness. 
They  have  thus  created  "  a  law  unto  them- 
selves," which  promulgates  itself  without  a 
trumpet,  and  explains  itself  without  words,  and 
prolongs  its  own  authority  by  their  silence.  A 
look  defines  it  even  to  the  dull ;  and  a  blush 
defends  it  like  lightning,  from  the  designing. 
A  woman  has  only  to  respect  herself  as  a 
woman,  in  order  to  be  respected. 

You  feel,  accordingly,  that  you  owe  much 
to  your  sex,  on  its  own  account.  You  see 
at  a  glance,  both  what  is  worthy  and  what  is 
unworthy  of  it.  You  do  not,  and  cannot, 
forget  what  is  expected  from  you  on  the  single 
ground  of  your  sex.  You  are  not  sorry  that 
so  much  is  expected.  You  are  even  gratified 
and  glad,  that  "whatsoever  things  are  pure, 


CHRISTIANS    HOLY   TEMPLES.  237 

whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever 
things  are  of  good  report,"  are  calculated  upon, 
as  almost  matters  of  course  in  your  character. 
You  can  hardly  regret  that,  when  woman  falls, 
she 

"  Falls  like  Lucifer,  to  rise  no  more," 

in  this  world.  The  feeling  in  the  public  mind, 
that  women,  like  Angels,  must  stand  or  fall  for 
ever,  is,  indeed,  a  high  one  ;  but  it  is  highly 
honourable  to  you,  and  unspeakably  beneficial 
to  society.  It  may  expect  and  exact  too  much 
from  you :  but  it  enables  you  to  do  more  and 
better,  and  both  more  easily,  than  if  the  stand- 
ard of  female  excellence  were  lower. 

Why  not,  then,  respect  your  piety  as  much 
as  your  sex  ?  If  there  be  any  thing  inspiring 
and  responsible  in  the  consideration, — "  I  am 
a  woman,  and  one  of  Britain's  daughters  ;"  how 
much  more  in  the  consideration, — "  I  am  a 
Christian,  and  one  of  the  daughters  of  the 
Lord  God  Almighty !"  The  latter  relationship 
is,  I  am  fully  aware,  not  so  easily  realized  or 


238  CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES. 

claimed  as  the  former ;  the  former  is  your 
birth-right,  which  nothing  but  crime  can  forfeit. 
The  latter  is  an  adoption,  which  no  virtue  can 
merit.  It  is  not,  however,  on  that  account  less 
obtainable,  nor  less  free,  nor  less  ascertainable  : 
for  "  to  as  many  as  receive  Him — even  to  them 
that  believe  on  His  name,"  Christ  gives 
"power,"  (that  is,  warrant  and  welcome,)  to 
regard  themselves  as  the  children  of  God. 
"  As  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God," 
they  are  the  children  of  God. 

These  are  neither  equivocal  nor  discouraging 
tests  of  adoption.  They  prove  your  adoption 
into  the  redeemed  family  of  God,  if  you  ho- 
nestly welcome  Christ  as  your  only  hope  of 
salvation,  and  honestly  desire  to  be  led  by  the 
Spirit  into  all  truth  and  duty.  And,  do  you 
not?  If  you  really  did  not,  why  are  you  so 
deeply  interested  in  this  subject  ?  Why,  else, 
are  you  so  anxious  to  be  a  child  of  God  ?  How 
came  the  question  of  your  adoption  to  lay  such 
hold  upon  your  mind  and  heart!  "  Who 
opened  thine  eyes"  to  see  the  need  and  nature 


CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES.          239 

of  "  being  born  again,"  in  order  to  becoming 
one  of  God's  spiritual  family  ?  This  persua- 
sion cometh  not  from  instinct,  age.  example, 
or  education.  It  is  the  fruit  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
He  has  "  quickened,"  "  illuminated,"  and  "  led," 
wherever  the  Spirit  of  adoption  is  thus  prized, 
and  prayed  for,  and  longed  after.  The  heart 
is  magnetized  by  grace,  that  turns  to  this  holy 
pole. 

The  question  of  your  adoption  is,  however, 
one  which  ought  not,  and  never  can  be  well 
settled,  by  your  own  consciousness  of  certain 
feelings  or  desires  on  the  subject.  It  is  a 
practical,  as  much  as  an  experimental  ques- 
tion. It  turns  quite  as  much  upon  what  you 
are  trying  to  be  and  do,  as  upon  what  you  wish 
to  feel  and  enjoy.  If,  therefore,  in  addition  to 
your  solicitude  to  be  a  child  of  God,  you  are 
trying  to  copy  the  likeness,  and  to  cultivate  the 
spirit,  of  His  regenerated  family,  the  question 
is  settled :  "  ye  are  no  more  strangers  or  fo- 
reigners ;"  but  members  of  the  "  household  of 
God :"  "  ye  were  sometimes  darkness  ;  but  ye 


240  CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES. 

are  now  light  in  the  Lord :  walk  as  children 
of  the  light." 

Amongst  the  many  forms  of  Scriptural  ap- 
peal to  those  who  are  thus  solicitous  to  ascer- 
tain their  adoption,  the  most  frequent,  if  not  the 
most  forcible  is,  "  What ;  know  ye  not  that 
your  bodies  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  is  in  you  ?"  "  What  agreement  hath  the 
temple  of  God  with  idols  ?  For  ye  are  the 
temple  of  the  Living  God :  as  God  hath  said, 
I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them,  and  I 
will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people. 
Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them,"  (the 
ungodly,)  "  and  be  ye  separate,  and  I  will  re- 
ceive you,  and  will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and 
ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the 
Lord  Almighty  ;  and  touch  not  the  unclean 
thing."  2  Cor,  vi,  16. 

I  wish  to  fix  your  attention  upon  this  view 
of  yourself  as  a  Temple.  It  is  a  fascinating, 
as  well  as  a  solemn,  view  of  your  state  and 
responsibility.  It  is  a  view  more  easily  taken 
and  retained  than  some  others :  for,  although 


CHRISTIANS   HOLY   TEMPLES.  241 

drawn  from  the  ancient  Temple  of  Jerusalem, 
and  thus  associated  with  many  sublime  pecu- 
liarities, to  which  parallels  would  be  difficult 
either  to  find  or  fancy,  it  is  still  a  simple  view 
of  a  Christian.  For,  after  all  that  can  be  said 
or  imagined  of  the  Holy  Temple,  it  was  but  a 
house  made  with  hands,  and  of  earthly  materi- 
als ;  and  thus  less  likely  to  be  made  "  a  habita- 
tion of  God  through  the  Spirit,"  than  the  human 
frame.  Solomon  felt  this,  even  when  the  first 
temple  was  in  all  the  fulness  and  freshness  of 
its  architectural  glory.  "  Will  God,"  said  he, 
"  in  very  deed  dwell  with  man  upon  the  earth  ? 
Behold,  heaven,  and  the  heaven  of  heavens, 
cannot  contain  Thee !"  How  much  less  this 
House  which  I  have  built!"  In  this  excla- 
mation of  Solomon,  the  inferiority  of  the 
temple  to  man,  as  well  as  to  heaven,  is  both 
implied  and  expressed.  Or,  if  Solomon  did 
not  intend  to  say  this,  "  a  greater  than  Solo- 
mon" has  said  it  again  and  again.  "  Thus 
saith  the  high  and  lofty  ONE  that  inhabiteth 
Eternity,  whose  name  is  Holy,  I  dwell  in  the 
21 


242  CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLE  a. 

high  and  holy  place  :  with  him  also  that  is  of 
an  humble  and  contrite  spirit."  Isa.  Ivii.  15, 
"  Thus  saith  the  LORD,  The  heaven  is  my 
throne,  and  the  earth  is  my  footstool.  Where 
is  the  house  that  ye  build  unto  me  ?  And 
where  is  the  place  of  my  rest  ?  But  to  this 
man  will'  I  look, — even  to  him  that  is  poor 
and  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  trembleth  at  my 
word."  Isa.  Ixvi.  1,2, 

This  settles  the  inferiority  of  all  temples  to 
both  the  human  soul  and  body.  They  form  a 
"  living  temple,"  and  may  be  a  "  holy  temple" 
in  a  higher  sense  than  even  the  heaven  of  hea- 
vens itself. 

Let  us  not  be  misled  by  words,  nor  be- 
wildered with  splendid  appearances.  Even 
your  bodies  are  more  "  fearfully  and  wonder- 
fully made,"  than  the  material  heavens  which 
form  the  actual  temple  and  throne  of  Deity : 
and  your  spirits,  both  in  their  essence  and  im- 
mortality, are  nobler  than  the  line  ether  which 
is  the  firmament  of  glory.  We  think  too 
meanly  of  both  our  soul  and  body,  when  we 


CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES.  243 

imagine  that  any  thing  material,  in  heaven  or 
on  earth,  is  equal  to  them.  We  cannot,  indeed, 
think  too  meanly  of  their  moral  tastes  and 
tendencies  by  nature.  We  may  well  say  of  the 
body,  that  it  is  vile  as  well  as  frail ;  and  of  the 
soul,  that  it  is  depraved  as  well  as  weak  :  but 
neither  is  worthless.  Worthless !  no,  no ; 
Emmanuel  counted  them  more  valuable  than 
fallen  angels  :  for  he  took  not  upon  him  the 
nature  of  angels.  He  made  His  own  soul  an 
offering  for  our  souls,  and  he  will  make  our 
bodies  "  like  unto  His  own  glorious  body." 
The  Temple,  even  when  filled  with  the  glory 
of  God,  was  but  an  emblem  of  what  every 
man  and  woman  should  be,  and  of  what 
any  one  may  be  ; — "  an  habitation  of  God 
through  the  Spirit."  It  was  to  exemplify 
and  secure  this,  that  Christ  became  at 
once  the  temple,  the  priest,  and  the  sacri- 
fice of  God.  In  our  nature,  He  showed  what 
human  nature  should  be,  and  might  be.  As 
sustained  by  Him,  Humanity  was  (and  he 
called  it  so)  a  Temple,  in  which  dwelt  "  all 


244  CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES. 

the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."  Such  a 
Temple  was  the  Saviour ;  and  such  temples, 
in  their  measure,  may  we  be  ;  "  filled  with  all 
the  (communicable)  fulness  of  God." 

It  is  not  to  our  credit,  if  we  deem  this  a  sub- 
lime speculation,  rather  than  a  sober  reality. 
Paul  did  not  view  it  in  this  light,  either  for  him- 
self or  others.  He  bowed  his  knees  in  frequent 
and  fervent  prayer  for  the  Ephesians,  that 
they  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God,  by  being  enabled  to  comprehend,  with 
all  saints,  the  wonders  of  the  love  of  Christ. 
Eph.  iii.  14,  21.  What  "holy  temples  unto 
the  Lord,"  the  Apostle  desired  and  expected 
Believers  to  become !  "  Christ,"  says  he, 
"  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith."  "  Christ 
is  in  you,  the  hope  of  glory."  "  Know  ye  not 
yourselves,  how  that  Christ  is  in  you  ?" 

It  will  not  do  to  overlook  this  often  re- 
peated and  pressed  consideration.  It  occurs 
too  frequently  and  emphatically  to  be  trifled 
with,  or  evaded.  "  Christ  is  in  you,"  says 
Paul,  "  except  ye  be  reprobates."  This  gives 


CHRISTIANS   HOLY    TEMPLES.  245 

awful  solemnity  to  the  question,  "  Am  I  a 
living  Temple,  and  trying  to  be  a  holy  Temple, 
unto  the  Lord  ?"  For,  although  the  word 
"  reprobate"  has  none  of  the  meaning  of  the 
word  "  Reprobation,"  as  that  term  was  used 
in  the  olden  times  of  the  Calvinistic  contro- 
versy, still  it  means  so  much  that  is  awful  and 
ominous,  that  we  do  well  to  lay  deeply  to 
heart  Paul's  admonition :  "  Examine  your- 
selves, whether  ye  be  in  the  faith  :  prove  your 
own  selves  :  know  ye  not  yourselves,  how  that 
Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye  be  reprobates,"  or 
without  any  real  marks  of  grace  1 

Christ  himself  throws  us  as  fully  upon  the 
same  question,  by  his  own  representations  of 
the  TEMPLESHIP  of  his  disciples.  "  I  in  them, 
and  Thou  in  me,  that  they  may  be  one  in  us," 
is  the  grand  point  in  which  his  prayers  for 
their  sanctification  meet  and  terminate.  John 
xvii.  23.  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will  keep 
my  words  :  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and 
we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode 
with  him."  John  xiv.  23.  «  The  world  know- 
21* 


246  CHRISTIANS   HOLY    TEMPLES, 

eth  not  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  because  it  seeth  him 
not ;  but  ye  know  him,  for  he  dwelleth  with 
you,  and  shall  be  in  you."  John  xiv.  17. 

When  such  passages  are  thus  multiplied,  they 
do  not  (be  it  recollected)  mean  more  as  a  whole, 
than  is  meant  by  any  one  of  them.  The  design 
of  so  many,  is  not  to  convey  such  an  idea  of 
the  work  or  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  must 
intimidate  or  perplex  us.  No,  indeed  :  their 
design  is  just  the  very  opposite.  We,  indeed, 
are  very  ready  when  such  an  array  of  texts  is 
before  us,  to  take  alarm  ;  or  to  conclude  from 
them,  that  nothing  we  have  experienced,  and 
nothing  we  are  ever  likely  to  possess,  can  amount 
to  "  the  first  fruits  of  the  Spirit"  even.  Multi- 
plied statements  on  this  subject,  seem  to  magnify 
it  beyond  all  ordinary  piety.  This  is,  however, 
quite  a  mistake.  The  very  fear,  suspense,  and 
solicitude,  which  you  now  feel,  lest  this  view 
of  piety  should  disprove  your  piety,  prove  that 
you  are  not  a  stranger  to  the  indwelling  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Your  he  an  would  neither  feel 
the  worth,  nor  fear  the  want  of  His  gracious 


CHRISTIA 

influences,  if  it  had  ne vei  elpci luficed  any  of 
them.  We  both  have  the  Spirit,  and  are  in  some 
measure  "after  the  Spirit,"  if  we  seriously 
"  mind  the  things  of  the  Spirit."  We  are  the 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  if  we  honestly 
desire  and  try  to  be  holy  temples  unto  the 
Lord. 

Is  this  your  aim  ?  If  so,  there  is  nothing  in 
all  the  hosts  of  texts  which  you  have  just  re- 
viewed, to  discourage  you.  The  grand  object 
of  each  and  all  of  them,  is  to  penetrate  your 
whole  spirit  with  the  living  conviction,  that 
you  are  one  of  God's  consecrated  temples  ;  and 
thus  must  take  care,  that  you  neither  "  defile" 
nor  discredit  the  temple  of  God.  Now,  you  do 
take  some  care,  that  you  may  not  disgrace  the 
profession  you  make  ;  that  you  may  not  bring 
any  reproach  upon  religion  ;  that  your  life  may 
not  give  the  lie  to  your  creed  or  your  hopes. 
Well ;  why  not  connect  all  this  holy  fear,  and 
care,  and  watchfulness,  with  the  consideration 
that  you  are  "  the  temple  of  God  ?"  You  con- 
nect them  (and  very  properly)  with  your  name, 


248  CHRISTIANS    HOLY    TEMPLES. 

and  your  place  in  the  Church  of  God ;  with 
your  fond  hope  that  you  have  found,  or  shall 
find,  mercy  of  the  Lord ;  with  your  good  name 
in  your  family,  and  among  your  friends.  All 
this  is  as  it  should  be.  I  would  not  detach 
your  sense  of  responsibility,  nor  your  regard  to 
consistency,  from  any  one  of  these  checks  and 
charms  upon  character.  It  would,  however, 
strengthen  and  prolong  the  influence  of  them 
all,  to  recognise  as  fully,  and  realize  as  con- 
stantly, 3'our  templeship,  as  a  Christian.  That 
means  no  more  than  is  meant  by  your  profes- 
sion, your  obligations,  or  your  responsibility  : 
but  it  defines  them  clearly,  and  commends  as 
well  as  enforces  them  powerfully.  You  ought, 
therefore,  to  be  willing,  yea,  thankful  and  glad, 
to  avail  yourself  of  any  new  consideration  that 
adds  to  the  power  of  the  old  motives  which  re- 
gulate your  conduct ;  especially,  when,  as  in 
this  instance,  the  new  motive  is  as  scriptural  as 
the  old  ones. 

But,  why  do  I  call  it  new?     The  idea  of 
Templeship,  is  as  old,  and  as  often  repeated  in 


CHRITIANS   HOLY   TEMPLES.  249 

Scripture,  as  the  idea  of  discipleship,  sonship, 
or  citizenship.  You  have  just  seen  that  the 
New  Testament  is  full  of  it.  It  does  not,  how- 
ever, occur  often  in  religious  conversation  now. 
It  does  not  seem  to  have  the  same  place  or 
power  in  the  mind  of  Christians,  that  the  other 
ideas  possess.  But,  why  should  it  not  be  as 
familiar  and  influential  as  any  of  them  ?  It  is 
not  inferior  to  them  in  beauty  or  point ;  and 
not  so  superior  to  them  in  sublimity,  as  to  be 
difficult  to  comprehend,  remember,  or  apply. 
"  I  am  a  living  temple  of  God,  and  ought  to 
be  a  holy  temple,"  is  as  soon  and  as  easily  said, 
as,  "  I  am  a  professor  of  religion,  and  ought  to 
be  consistent." 

But  I  must  not  argue  with  you,  as  if  it  were 
optional  to  you,  to  admit  or  decline  the  use  of 
this  holy  consideration.  You  are  not  at  liberty 
to  overlook  it  for  another  day,  even  if  you  have 
done  pretty  well  without  thinking  of  It  hitherto. 
It  is,  most  likely,  the  very  motive  which  you 
now  want,  in  order  to  keep  up  the  influence  of 
your  old  motives,  in  following  holiness.  For, 


250  CHRISTIANS    HOLY   TEMPLES. 

have  they  all  their  original  power  over  you  ? 
Does  your  sense  of  responsibility  as  a  convert, 
as  a  disciple,  as  a  possessor  of  grace,  carry  you 
all  the  length  it  did,  when  you  first  took  "  the 
vows  of  God"  upon  you  ?  If  not — you  may 
backslide  until  you  break  down  altogether  on 
the  narrow  way,  unless  you  get  hold,  at  this 
critical  nick  of  time,  upon  the  rallying  and  in- 
spiring consideration  of  your  templeship. 

I  know  that  the  word  itself  is  new  :  but  you 
know  that  the  idea  is  as  old  as  your  Bible.  I 
have  not  coined  the  word  for  the  sake  of 
novelty,  or  of  singularity  ;  but  in  order  to  arrest 
attention  to  "  the  mind  of  Christ,"  as  that  is 
expressed  in  the  "words  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
teachetb."  I  tell  you  again,  therefore,  that  it  is 
neither  wise  nor  safe  to  exclude  this  scriptural 
view  of  your  obligation  to  be  holy,  or  to  try  to 
do  without  it  any  longer.  If  you  are  a  real 
Christian,  Christianity  considers  and  calls  you, 
the  temple  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Spirit ; 
and  remonstrates  with  you,  as  well  as  commands 
you,  to  consider  yourself  in  this  light.  And 


CHRISTIANS   HOLY   TEMPLES.  251 

mark  ;  you  cannot  point  to,  nor  conceive  of,  any 
appeal  to  your  principles,  or  hopes,  or  responsi- 
bilities, as  a  Christian  woman,  so  striking  in 
its  form  and  stirring  in  its  spirit  as  this  one. 
Look  at  it  again.  "  What ;  know  ye  not  that 
your  bodies  are  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost?" 
"  Know  ye  not  that  Christ  is  in  you,  except  ye 
be  reprobates  ?" 


THE    END, 


Ob'  (JA-bJLb'UKIMA  .L113.KA.KY, 
BERKELEY 


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